Unfinished Business
by LianatheWingedDrummer16
Summary: Some people can't live without the ones they love, and Ellie chose to return for Isaac because he was the one light in her world of darkness. Although they are both glad to be together again, new problems are appearing; some will be very hard to deal with
1. To Save Their Lives

**I'm so sorry to the people who have me on Author Alert and thought this was a Maximum Ride fanfiction, because that's what I'm known for. I have to upload this from my phone (no computer) and therefore it might be a little more difficult to read. But that's not the point. I'm a female gamer, obviously, and recently I've been getting into the "Dead Space" series. I used to be completely and utterly terrified of those stupid Necromorphs (who says it's okay to watch that at ten years old?), but now... It's actually one of my favorites for a couple of reasons. The first is that it's fascinating in a morbid sort of way, and the second is that I'm truly a romantic at heart. I watched the end of Dead Space 3 (sniff sniff), and I decided that one of my favorite couples of all time is Isaac/Ellie. Dead Space 3 is a love story in disguise, and I can't stop thinking of the image of Isaac, floating away and ready to die, while Ellie watches from her gunship. That's honestly going to be burned in my memory forever. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes me feel like crying. So here it is: Lost and Found. **

ELLIE POV

"I'm the Marker killer, remember?"

'No, don't go,' Ellie wanted to say, but her voice was gone. She felt as though it was all so surreal, and yet so lifelike.

She stumbled as the ground below her feet moved, but was yanked back by Isaac, who still held her hand. Looking at their bonded hands, she realized, 'This could be the last time I see him.'

Spurred by the thought, Ellie threw herself forward and kissed him hard on the mouth. She put everything she had in that kiss, trying to convey all the love she had for him into the delicate contact.

Too soon, they broke apart and Isaac handed her a picture of him. Ellie accepted it without question, somehow numbed by the idea that he wasn't coming home.

"Go!" Isaac said, pushing her to the shuttle. Ellie stumbled as she made her way to the escape craft, where she closed the hatch and exited the Brother Moon, ultimately leaving behind the only man she'd ever loved.

Above, she watched as the Brother Moon crashed into Tau Volantis. 'He's gone,' she thought. 'He's dead for sure.'

Ellie couldn't be sure what she was saying. All she knew was that her mouth was moving, but probably just voicing her thoughts. That the Marker was gone, its signals not coming through, and that Isaac's clearly wasn't either.

Pulling the half picture of Isaac out of her pocket, she looked at it one final time before turning the gunship around and heading for Earth.

And Ellie pushed the ship into hyperdrive.

ISAAC POV

He knew that he'd done it. He'd destroyed the Marker and the Necromorphs were no longer a threat to the human race.

What he didn't know, unfortunately, was if he was still alive or not.

Isaac could not tell if he was laying, sprawled in the snow of Tau Volantis or if he was standing in a huge furnace of heat. He tried wiggling his fingers and toes, moving his arms, turning his head.

Nothing seemed to work properly. He couldn't get a reaction out of his body.

'So that's it then,' he thought. 'I'm dead. But shouldn't I be seeing angels or something? Not endless blackness?'

He continued to float for a while, dreaming inside his own body. He dreamed of Earth. He dreamed of the wonderful, blissful ignorance he'd had for the fleeting moments before the Necromorphs changed his world.

He dreamed of Ellie.

He dreamed of her soft skin and mismatched eyes, even though it hurt to think of how his choices affected her. He dreamed of her chestnut hair and the fearless way she taunted the Necromorphs to come and get her, that she could fight them all day.

And finally, he dreamed of his relationship with her. How happy she'd made him each day, how sometimes he'd roll over at night and watch her breathing, so peaceful and quiet. The simple love they'd shared, and yet it was the strongest he'd ever known.

Stronger even than his love for Nicole.

Isaac stirred at that thought. Inside his head, in the darkness, he saw a faint glow of light.

And in that light was Nicole.

Isaac shrank back, aware of the fact that in his visions of her, she'd only been trying to kill him, not be there for him.

But there was something different about this light. The light was softer, more gentle, than the sharp glow emanating from her eyes and mouth in previous visions. It was the real Nicole, not the Marker-Nicole.

Nicole stepped forward. "Hello, Isaac."

'Nicole,' he thought. And then he said, "Nicole. Have you come to take me away?"

Nicole laughed then, and the sound was welcoming, not harsh at all. "No. There's still someone who needs you alive here. But I'm here to tell you that you have finally let me go. And that's good. Your guilt over my death was unrequited. I had made my choice. It had nothing to do with you."

Isaac searched for the truth, any malice behind her words. But there was none, only the genuine concern for him and perhaps a bit of understanding. "So... You know about Ellie?"

"Yes. And I'm glad to see you've found someone to make you happy, happier than I ever made you."

Isaac felt pained. "Nicole... I'm sorry-"

"No, Isaac. Don't be sorry. I'm glad - even though I can never see you again, someone else is there who will love you without a doubt. Our worlds will never come into contact again, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I forgive you, and I want you to move on."

Isaac was at peace, finally able to think of her without guilt. "Thank you. Thank you, Nicole," he murmured softly.

"Get up now, Isaac." Nicole's voice was stronger this time, more inspiring. "Get up and face the world. Ellie needs you. In fact, she's coming for you soon."

ELLIE POV

Ellie was slumped in the pilot's seat. Not long ago, she'd stopped the shuttle in its path, and now she was just floating in space.

Vacantly, she stared out the window into the black expanse, speckled with stars, and tried to imagine how her life would be if she returned alone.

It would probably be more boring and miserable than ever. Waking up in her bed, lonely. Eating at the apartment table, lonely. Not being able to play Scrabble, unless it was with someone else. Taking a walk by herself. Sleeping, lonely.

Ellie started as she realized those were all things she used to do with Isaac.

'Oh, right.'

Norton had been a bastard, an overprotective jerk. He was merely a shadow of what she wanted. She wanted and needed a strong, brave man, but not one that shielded her from every aspect of life like a damsel in distress.

She wanted a man like Isaac. Shit, she just wanted Isaac. Plain and simple.

In her heart she knew she would have chosen Isaac over Norton, when it came down to it. She would have given her life for Isaac.

Then she realized.

She couldn't go to Earth without him. The very idea was impossible. Her heart abhorred the thought, her oh-so-rational mind hated the idea of returning to find emptiness.

She wasn't going home without him.

Determination filled her body as she stood up and walked to the back of the shuttle to grab a RIG. 'I'll find him, and if I don't, I'm not coming back. Death is better than living without him.'

Ellie zipped on the RIG, then turned the ship in the direction Tau Volantis, sighing. No sooner had she set the coordinates than a radio transmission came over her RIG.

She gasped, unable to believe her eyes.

It was him.

Isaac.

ISAAC POV

Isaac sat in the corner of a ruined building. Not long ago, he had opened his eyes after the conversation with Nicole to find that he was laying sheltered under the wreckage of the Machine. Thankfully, he had been able to make his way out of the Brethren Moon and find a safe place to rest.

'Now, I wait,' he thought. 'If what Nicole said is true, Ellie's coming for me.'

The thought made a smile spread across his face. He hoped with all his heart that it was true, and he instinctively opened up an audio link to Ellie.

He frowned when he saw the slight damage to the transmission apparatus, but it would do, if only for a simple audio transmission. The video link was unavailable.

'If I get back I'll fix it.'

He sent the impulse through his RIG to contact Ellie. After a few moments of silence, in which he gazed out towards the swirling ice and snow outside the building, the RIG signaled the connection was intact.

"Ellie? Ellie..." he rasped.

The connection was blocky, even to his own ears, but his voice was audible.

There was silence. Isaac feared that she wasn't there, that he would die on the ice planet alone. Anxiety roiled in his stomach and he became dizzy as the world tilted around him. 'What if it's all a lie? What if she's not coming back?'

Then, there was the most glorious sound.

"Isaac? Isaac, can you hear me?!"

"Ellie!" Isaac exclaimed. It was wonderful to hear her voice again, her accent prominent in her desperation to speak with him. "God, Ellie, I-"

His eardrums nearly shattered as Ellie shouted, "YOU SELFISH BASTARD! I was just about to slit my own throat, you know! How could you do this to me, Isaac? Was that your amazing idea? Kill yourself and leave me alone?"

Isaac winced on the inside. Her words bore a semblance to what she'd said as he was ready to accept his fate, back on Titan Station. She had burst through the ceiling to save his ass, and she was coming back for a repeat of that action. "I thought I was going to die for sure," he admitted. "I didn't know there were going to be repercussions. You would have found some other, younger man, Ellie."

"No, I wouldn't have." Ellie's steely tone, laced with anger, informed him he'd be hearing about this for weeks to come. "I was going to search for you until I died, Isaac."

Isaac felt tears brimming in his eyes, and he hastily wiped them away, not wanting to sound like a wimp.

"I'm coming for you soon, Isaac," Ellie said, her voice softer this time. "Just another five hours. Are you hurt?"

Isaac shrugged, then remembered she couldn't see it. "Just a couple bruises and scrapes."

"Good, because I'm going to kill you when I get back."

Isaac laughed, and he was relieved to hear Ellie laugh as well. "I think I can hold on for five hours."

There was a companionable silence for about an hour. Neither of them wanted to break the connection, and Isaac needed to hear her breathing just to make sure he wasn't going insane. He pinched his leg several times, but his tongue just to make sure it wasn't all a dream or a cold-induced hallucination.

The best part was that it wasn't.

Ellie broke the silence by saying, "I'm really glad you're alive, Isaac."

"I am too, Ellie."

Isaac paused, unsure of what to say. "Ellie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

He could practically feel her smiling, feel the gunship speed on its way to him. "I love you too."

There was another silence.

Isaac leaned back against the wall. He was still alert, Plasma Cutter at the ready, but more relaxed. It would be just his luck to get captured right at the moment of reunion.

Nobody else was near him, though. He was probably the only living being on the entire ice planet. This tiny room, out in the cold, was the only shelter nearby, and he was alone. Carver hadn't survived the fall, unfortunately - Isaac found his body crumpled near the center of the disgustingly large Necromorph. A proper burial had seemed to be in order, and Isaac had dragged his body out of the Moon and buried him deep in the snow, weapons buried close.

Ellie's voice disturbed his reminiscing thoughts. "Just a question, Isaac."

"Shoot."

"Do you still have that picture of me, by chance?"

Isaac said, "Sadly, no. It blew away when I was falling." The loss of the picture was regrettable. It was one of the few pictures of Ellie being so serene - and with him, too.

"Well, when I bring you back home, we'll just have to take another picture. And I'd prefer it if you didn't rip it in half this time."

Isaac smiled. "Sure thing, Ellie." But he grew serious again. "You have no idea how hurt I was when you left."

Ellie drew in a shaky breath. "I know, Isaac. I regretted it the moment I landed on Tau Volantis. I - I'm sorry."

Isaac said, "It's okay. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you feel guilty."

"No, no. I'm fine, it's just - it feels kind of better to talk about this. I want you to know that I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Ellie. You know that."

"Another hour, Isaac," Ellie said suddenly. "Just an hour. I have your coordinates on the ship - good thing this has a tracking device."

Isaac's heart leapt. Only an hour until he was saved. Only an hour until he could go home.

Only an hour until he could see Ellie again.

'But I guess anywhere she is would be my home,' he mused.

"I can't wait," he said in response.

"I can't wait either. At least this particular gunship doesn't require that much fuel."

More silence passed. Isaac found himself counting the minutes, the very seconds, ticking by. They seemed, as is the way of the universe, to be at least twice as slow.

Isaac realized he'd fallen asleep when Ellie suddenly whooped. "Isaac, I can see the building! I'm almost there!"

Pure energy jolted through Isaac's body as he stood upright, however sore he was, and rushed to the entrance of the building.

Shielding his eyes, Isaac looked upward. And sure enough, he was able to see the small gunship landing, nearly right above him.

Joy flooded through his body as Ellie landed and opened the hatch. He sprinted forward, throwing himself at full tilt into the cockpit.

Ellie shut the door and made sure they were up in the air before doing anything. Isaac waited, with bated breath, as she punched the autopilot button and stood from her seat. Outside, the ice planet dropped ever further from them.

When Ellie turned towards him, he was shocked to see tears streaking down her face.

Then she threw herself into his arms.

Isaac gripped her tightly, unwilling to let her go. Her body was shaking with the force of her sobs, silent as they were. Her arms were clamped around his neck in a vice-like grip. He shushed her quietly, rubbing her back gently as he tried and failed to identify the maelstrom of emotions inside him.

"I thought you were gone for sure," Ellie whispered. "I didn't know what I would do without you."

"It's okay, Ellie. I'm here. It's okay."

Isaac had been lost. But he had been found, and he would not let himself be torn from her side again.

Eventually, he sat her down in the chair, still sobbing, and waited for the gunship to take them both home.

**So, what did you think? Tell me if you want this to continue. I'm debating whether I should leave it as a oneshot or a multi-chapter story, which involves them raising a family together. **


	2. Hearts Intact Once More

**Thank you so much to all those that reviewed! I love you guys mucho. And to FallenAngel2013, I am seriously considering emailing Visceral Games and asking them to make your story the official ending of DS3, because it's just that fantastic. On a different note, do any of you guys ever get scared of Necromorphs? Because I still do, and it's making me depressed. I wasn't that afraid of them at ten, and now I'm terrified at fourteen and a half. Does anyone have any remedies for that? Please help - it's a bugger for sure. Regarding my story, I have decided (since I'm so terrified of these things) that I will make the story mostly romance, but with an actual plot too. **

ELLIE POV

She was sobbing and she knew it, but she was unable to stop. There was so much emotion inside of her that she was surprised, in some distant and not-nearly-emotional part of her mind, that she hadn't collapsed from the mental strain.

Leaving Isaac behind at New Horizons had made her positively weepy. She'd missed him more than she thought possible, and regretted every single fight they'd had. Maybe if she hadn't been so persistent about it, he wouldn't have felt pressured about going with her. Ellie knew how he felt, after all - the emotional scars that accompanied one's mind after battling Necromorphs were awfully debilitating. And yet she'd left the love of her life, calling him and leaving a break-up message on his phone, when she knew full well how important he was to her. He was her everything, but she'd left him.

And then came their moment of reunion on Tau Volantis. Every moment together, every conversation was stilted and awkward ever since Isaac had seen Ellie run up and kiss Norton. Seeing Isaac again had healed her somewhat, but more invisible wounds had opened up as they threw more nonchalant insults and angry words at each other, the both of them insisting that Ellie's separation from Isaac was better for them both. But it was all really just them trying to fool their hearts into thinking that it was over, that they weren't in love with each other anymore. It was so foolish - all the time they wasted arguing could have been spent loving.

Then there was losing Isaac. Ellie had never known true mental, emotional, or physical pain up until she'd stopped being numb and shut off the Shockdrive engine. Her emotions, coupled with the physical pain of her heart breaking, had reduced her to nothing more but a crying mess. Every time she thought she was just about to get it all together, she saw something that reminded her of Isaac - a stasis pack, an engineer's tool - and she'd start bawling like a little baby again. She lost count of how many tears she'd shed until she realized the entire front of her shirt and part of her cargo pants were soaked. Then, finally, she was able to sit back and do some rational thinking, which ended in her hauling ass back to Tau Volantis and saving Isaac.

Finally, she remembered reuniting with him, after the Brother Moon had crashed. More tears had ended up pouring down like rain during a thunderstorm, and she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest and sobbing unrestrainedly. In all her near thirty years of life, she'd never felt so emotional.

But somewhere, deep down, was the pure, fierce joy of knowing that Isaac, her one true love, was safe and holding her tightly.

ISAAC POV

In all the time he had spent with Ellie, Isaac had never seen her cry so hard. She was shaking and sniffling, tears streaming out of her beautiful eyes.

All Isaac could do was hold her close and shush her, press his lips to her forehead and tell her everything was going to be all right.

In the back of his mind, Isaac wondered if Norton had ever done this for Ellie. Had he ever held her when she was upset, ever told her things would turn out just fine?

Had he ever even seen her cry?

'Does it matter?' Isaac asked himself dryly. 'She's here with me now, anyways, not Norton. That's all that matters.'

Eventually, Ellie drifted off to sleep in his arms. Isaac could tell because she gradually stopped sniffling and her grip around his neck loosened, although it tightened sporadically, and her breathing became deeper and more rhythmic.

Isaac smiled gently for a moment. It was good that Ellie would be able to get more sleep, after all the emotional stress she'd been under. He wondered if she'd gotten a decent night of sleep in the last few weeks, then decided she probably hadn't. The mission would have kept her up at night, like he had been kept awake as well.

She looked like she needed it right then, though. There were dark circles under her eyes and her brow was furrowed slightly, as though it was natural.

After checking to make sure the autopilot was taking them to the proper coordinates on Earth, Isaac gently lifted Ellie up, carrying her bridal-style, and moved her to the back, where there was a makeshift bed on a bench. He laid her down carefully, and searched the flight-safe gunship cupboards for a blanket, which he promptly drew over Ellie and tucked in. Then, as an added precaution in case she happened to roll over in her sleep, he belted her in with the built-in safety buckle.

As he returned to the cockpit, Isaac pondered his current dilemma. He hadn't planned on surviving - not that he was upset about being alive, as long as he had Ellie - but the EarthGov jackasses would probably be looking for him on the "off" chance he survived, and then he'd be running all over the place.

'Stupid Markers,' he thought, irritated. 'If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have this fucking problem.'

Isaac's hand hovered over the autopilot button. He was unsure of what to do. One on hand, going to Earth meant that he and Ellie could be safe from Necromorphs for the time being, and perhaps they could even start a family, have a near-normal life. On the other hand, however, EarthGov and the Unitologists would still be looking for them both. Isaac was putting Ellie in unnecessary danger. He wished that he could ask her to leave him behind, but his heart told him that she was there to stay, and couldn't leave him any more than she could kill him willingly.

He sighed, and leaned back in the seat, moving his hand away from the button.

Isaac decided to ask her later. Right now, they both needed their sleep.

ELLIE POV

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the feel of Isaac's lips on her forehead. It had been a warm, comforting feeling. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it, not until she'd started crying.

Speaking of Isaac, where was he?

Ellie opened her eyes. She was surprised to see the gunship's industrial cupboards above her head, and the blanket tucked around her.

'How sweet of you, Isaac.'

He'd even belted her in, just in case. The thoughtfulness of this small action made tears well up in her eyes, but she pressed them back. She'd done enough crying for a lifetime.

Undoing the belt buckle, Ellie sat up carefully so as not to have a head-to-cupboard collision. She looked around to find Isaac at the control panel of the cockpit, sitting in the pilot seat.

Quietly, she walked forward. "Isaac?" she called softly. "Isaac, shouldn't you be resting?"

Isaac started a bit, jolting and then turning to face her. "I can't sleep," he said tiredly. "I've been thinking..."

Ellie sat down in the seat next to him. "What about?" she asked, leaning forward.

Isaac's blue eyes flicked rapidly around the cabin, indicating he was nervous. "I don't know where we should go, Ellie. There's always a chance that EarthGov or the Unitology bastards will find us. I'm putting you in danger by being with you. I don't want that."

Hotly, Ellie opened her mouth to interject, but was interrupted by him. "You should be having a normal life, Ellie. You should be loving a man who's your age. Not that I don't want your love," he added hastily, seeing Ellie's eyes blazing with anger. "But by sticking around me, you're fucking your chances of just living a safe life. Our relationship will never exactly be normal."

"I don't want a safe life if you can't be in it," Ellie spat. "I don't care for anybody else on this planet but you, Isaac. You're all I have left now, and I'll be damned if I let you go. You should know by now. I love you, Isaac. I'll always love you, and nothing you say will ever change that."

Isaac felt warmed by her words, spoken harshly as they were. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he chuckled.

He was rewarded by the understanding look on Ellie's face. "I'm sorry," she admitted, her voice softening. "I just... The thought of losing you makes me extremely anxious."

"I wouldn't be able to live without you either, Ellie."

Her answering smile was blinding. But her eyes lowered as another thought came to her, and she was hesitant to voice it aloud. It would be too unkind to burden him yet again with more troubles.

"What?" Isaac asked.

Ellie took a deep breath. "I don't... I don't think the Markers are all gone, Isaac. Sure, you destroyed one Moon, but there could be thousands out there. The Markers just needed another to make Convergence. I don't think they would let the destruction of just one bring the whole network down."

Isaac had paled considerably at that point, and Ellie fervently wished she had kept her mouth shut.

"No, no, no... God, please no. I can't... I can't deal with it anymore. I..."

And then Isaac crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

ISAAC POV

He was dreaming again.

Or was he?

He supposed not, since he was able to see and feel. He just couldn't move, paralyzed by the realization that it was not quite over yet.

Ellie was kneeling on the ground next to him, shaking his shoulders. Her face was slightly blurred - were his eyes unfocused? - and he could just barely hear her calling his name. It sounded distorted and faint, like someone calling from a hundred feet away in a snowstorm.

"Isaac? Isaac!" she shouted. "Oh, God, Isaac!"

His eyes rolled. The internal sound of his erratically thumping heart quickly drowned out her words, and his eyesight was dimming. He tried to fight the blackness consuming his mind, but it overtook him, and he fell into the dark, swirling pit of his mind.

He was standing in front of the window, through which he could clearly see Ellie in the gunship. "I couldn't save Nicole, but I can save you, Ellie. So, uh, bye."

It dissolved in smoke, and then he was flying towards Tau Volantis, the ship slowly cracking apart. He turned around in his seat, reaching for Ellie. "ELLIE!" he bellowed, watching as she reached for him too. "Isaac!" she cried, and then the ship broke in half, the swirling snow hiding her from view.

Then he was standing in the middle of the Brother Moon, holding Ellie's and and telling her, "Ellie, I'm not afraid anymore."

But he was. He was afraid of losing her, losing the only thing he had left in life. Without her, he was nothing, just an empty shell marked by scars and a haunted mind.

He needed her more than anything else at that point. She was like air to him - vital for survival, necessary for sanity.

Without her, life had no meaning.

He pushed his way up through the suffocating memories locked inside his mind. Ellie needed him, and he would be there for her, no matter what.

Isaac blinked open his eyes blearily, trying to make sense of the fuzzy images his brain presented him with. He was only able to see the ceiling of the shuttle, and the walls on either side.

Gingerly, he propped himself up on his forearms, and surveyed the inside of the shuttle. "Ellie?" he called weakly.

"Thank God you're awake."

Ellie's voice came from behind him. He turned to see her sitting in the pilot's seat.

Shame overcame him as he remembered why he collapsed. "I-I'm sorry..."

"No, Isaac. It's my fault. It was wrong of me to remind you of the other troubles out there when you just dealt with some seriously awful shit." Ellie looked out the window regretfully.

"But you're right. We still have problems."

"I don't want you to have to risk your life just yet again," Ellie insisted. "It doesn't matter to me. You should be enjoying your life right now - don't let the Unitologist idiots or the EarthGov dicks mess your life up."

Isaac thought about it for a second. "I like that idea," he confessed. "I'd like to have a normal life with you, Ellie."

"Like hell I'd let you run off with anyone else," she laughed, but he knew she understood.

Carefully, she made her way down to where he was seated on the floor, and faced him, straddling his legs. There was uncertainty clear in her eyes. Isaac was confused until her hand gently wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling him forward. Suddenly, he understood and leaned forward, putting his hands on her slim hips as their lips met gently.

It was like fireworks exploded in his head, the passion he felt for her becoming stronger and fiercer than any love he'd ever known. He slid his hands up her back, coming to rest on her delicate shoulder blades as their lips moved against each other. Her free hand moved to touch his face, and he leaned into her soft palm, feeling its warmth.

The kiss was sweet. Her unique taste galvanized his taste buds, and when they broke apart, he was sure that all the love he felt for her was visible in his eyes.

"I'll never leave you, Ellie," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I couldn't leave you if I tried," she said softly back.

They stayed in each other's embrace, both unwilling to let go. Nothing could tear them apart. It didn't matter how dangerous the world was - Isaac knew he was here to stay, and she was too.

**Yay! Fluff! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. **


	3. Evil Abound

**I'm just having too much fun writing this. I know that as an author you're not supposed to toot your own horn, but I did. I went back and read the story (all two chapters!) and I kind of giggled with the wonderful mushiness and balls of fluff rolling everywhere. Good God. Anyways, thanks for reviewing. I appreciate it a lot. I also appreciate Visceral Games for making me happy. And thank you to those that helped me with my fear of Necromorphs... Ha-ha. **

**chuck**: Oh, Lord. I didn't even know Danik overthrew EarthGov... My dad hasn't actually played the game (I only watch, not play), but I just wanted to see the Isaac and Ellie romance, so I obviously missed some stuff... Please disregard the continuity issues. I'm terribly sorry for any discomfort this may have caused you.

ELLIE POV

Ellie was woken by the sound of a transmission coming through the communications device of the gunship. Her blood seemed to chill as she listened to whoever was hailing them.

"This is the USM Meteor hailing you. Do you read us?" a stern female voice demanded.

Ellie looked over at the now-awake Isaac, who was staring at her in uncertainty. "What do we do?" Ellie whispered, panic slowly starting to creep through her veins.

Isaac was more reasonable. "We don't know for sure if they're the remains of EarthGov or Unitologist fanatics," he whispered back. "Don't be scared."

"I'm not afraid," Ellie grumbled as she realized how his uncertainty had been replaced by tranquility. "I just don't want more trouble."

There was a pause, during which the woman hailing them said more insistently, "I repeat, this is the USM Meteor. Do you read us?"

"If it comes to a fight, they'll have their hands full," Isaac said convincingly.

Ellie looked up at the man she loved, then finally smiled. "Okay. I'm going to contact them back."

Isaac agreed. "Right. Then I'm going to grab a RIG and sync it with another ID, just in case."

"Sounds good."

With the mutual concord in place, Ellie moved to the comms button, pressing it once she made sure that Isaac was in the back.

As he tinkered around with the RIG settings, Ellie replied, "We hear you loud and clear."

"Good. Who are you?"

"This is Ellie Langford. We've just come from Tau Volantis."

There was silence for a moment. Seemingly hesitant, the woman who was speaking asked, "Do... Do you have a man aboard your vessel by the name of Isaac Clarke?"

Ellie glanced to the back. Isaac looked up from where he was at the Store and mouthed, "Just a second more."

Ellie tapped her fingers on the dashboard, not daring to press the button. Isaac pulled the finished RIG on and showed her his new ID.

"No... It's just me and David Strand."

"All right... Is there a particular place on the Meteor that you're here for? We have many facilities available, including a Unitology church."

Ellie looked at Isaac in horror. "Oh, God," she whispered.

Isaac's face had hardened in distaste at the mention of the hated religion. "Just tell her we're here to go to Earth," he said quietly.

"No, thank you," Ellie answered politely. "We're here to go to Earth."

The woman sounded a bit startled, judging from the hesitant pause before her reply. "All right then. In that case, we will have to search your ship for any suspicious anomalies. This is our policy, here on the USM Meteor."

'Oh, God,' Ellie thought. 'If they search the ship they'll find him... The only insurance we have is if the bastards don't decide to look at Isaac's face. But will they get suspicious if he keeps the helmet on?'

Isaac placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," he said softly. "We'll get out of this, no matter what."

Ellie looked at him. There was a raging internal conflict between her heart and her head. Her brain insisted that she let the USM Meteor follow its protocol and let the ship be searched, but her heart was screaming that she should just take off and run, that there was a chance Isaac would be captured.

She wouldn't be able to lose him again, that she knew for sure.

Isaac was waiting. "Ellie?" he prompted her gently.

She stared into his blue eyes, desperately hoping for some divine intervention that would get them out of this without the mandatory search. But none came to her, and she was forced to push the comms button. "Okay," she forced her dry throat to say. "Where should we dock?"

"There's a loading bay open on the fifth deck," the woman answered immediately.

"Thank you." The words were icy. Ellie didn't mean them at all.

She turned to the ship controls, pressing one button after another to manually control the gunship's path.

Her hands were trembling. As she noticed this, she frowned and gripped the steering controls so hard her knuckles turned white.

Isaac said gently, "Look at me."

Ellie found she could not take her eyes off of the ship, coming closer and closer with every second.

Closer to potential danger. Closer to possibly losing Isaac.

She felt Isaac's fingers, covered under the RIG's protective material, brush her chin with a feather-light touch. "Ellie. It's going to be okay."

Ellie forced a smile. "Yeah. We'll make it through this."

Although she was reassured by Isaac's calm demeanor, she couldn't help but be a little scared.

And soon she would find out how justified her fear was.

ISAAC POV

Isaac didn't understand for the life of him why Ellie was so terrified. They'd faced danger in the form of insane men, Necromorphs, and EarthGov soldiers without a hitch, but here she was, worrying about a potential problem.

A potential one. Not even a problem for sure.

As they docked, Ellie surprised him by suddenly placing a deep kiss on his mouth, her hand on the back of his head. He wrapped both arms around her waist, leaning into the touch of her soft lips against his.

As they broke apart, Ellie said breathlessly, "In case anything happens, anything at all, loop around and meet me back here. Keep in touch with the RIG link, got it?"

Isaac was bemused, but answered, "Sure."

The gunship landed on the floor of the loading bay, where a patrol of USM Meteor officers was awaiting their arrival. Isaac sent the impulse to put his helmet up. As the visor closed around his face and the gunship hatch opened, he saw Ellie send a look his way that said, "If you don't come back, I'll find you."

He nodded.

They walked out onto the floor of the bay and into the patrol of officers.

"Hello," one of them greeted.

Ellie returned a polite greeting and Isaac raised his hand in a sort of wave.

The officers didn't seem to notice their veiled hostility as they climbed aboard the gunship. "We're going to conduct our mandatory search and identification," one called back cheerfully.

"Just a question..." Isaac said. "Does this include our identification?"

The officer who had spoken poked his head around the hatch opening. "Of course! We are also in the process of identifying every single person that comes through this area to Earth. It's our duty to protect the planet from any malicious intent."

Isaac's heart dropped. 'Crap,' he thought. As he looked at Ellie, she stepped closer to him and grasped his hand through his suit, squeezing his fingers tightly.

"If we get separated," she said to him in an undertone, "don't forget to meet me back here."

Isaac whispered back, "Sure. I'll come find you if anything happens."

On the inside, he was surprised that the officers hadn't cared to ask about the events that had transpired on Tau Volantis. Surely the Unitologists would be interested in the demise of more Markers, right?

Isaac was interrupted in his thoughts as the patrol of officers returned. "Your gunship is cleared," a different one said, smiling. "Now it's time for your identification process. Follow us, please."

Isaac, still holding Ellie's hand, followed them into the hallway leading them away from the loading bay. She followed him more reluctantly, and Isaac knew she was still afraid to lose him.

He couldn't help the smile that was creeping over his face. It was truly a good feeling, being loved romantically so much by another person, even if the said person was at least ten years younger than him.

'Some people say age is just a number. I guess that's true in my case.'

However, the smile soon faded as they turned out of the hallway into another one, but narrower, as though people weren't generally expected to come through there. As Isaac continued walking, memories of the USG Ishimura assaulted his senses. It was almost like he was back on the cursed ship again. His eyes struggled to adjust to the large amount of light whitewashing his vision and the horrible blood and gore splattered all over the walls. His nose was filled with the scent of blood, and his body almost ached from the cuts and scrapes he'd received, throbbing as they leaked the vital liquid.

He hadn't noticed his flashback was so noticeable until Ellie brought him back to reality, shaking his shoulder, and he realized that he was slumped against the wall, his hands pressed on the prickly stucco in an attempt to keep him standing.

"Isaac," she whispered, "I know it's hard. I know it is, but if there was ever a time for you to try your damnedest to hide it, it would be now." She looked ahead to where the officers were still walking, thankfully oblivious to the scene behind them.

Isaac nodded weakly, his heart still thumping in panic, and stood to follow the officials.

Ellie gave his hand another comforting squeeze, and they walked into the identification room.

ELLIE POV

As they entered, one of the officials gestured to a bench against the wall. "Please sit here and wait while we get the equipment ready. We will be doing a blood test to make sure you're really who you say you are."

Ellie attempted a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace. The blood test, she knew, would reveal Isaac to be lying. And then what? Would they try to run for it?

The white lightning of adrenaline began flooding through her veins as she contemplated their options. She could either just leave right away with Isaac and make a run for it, or let them do the bloodwork and end up getting caught and having to fight their way out.

Both ways would result in the ship being put on lockdown, and then they'd have little time to return to the gunship and get out.

Ellie wanted to talk to Isaac and make a decision, but she knew they were out of time as one of the officers returned with two test tubes, needles, and a bloodwork machine.

Isaac gripped her hand tighter. She squeezed his fingers back, trying to convey the words she couldn't say.

The officer finished setting up and straightened up with a smile on her face. "All right, who's first?"

Ellie volunteered. 'I might be able to buy Isaac some time if I go first.'

Behind her, she heard Isaac let out a relieved sigh as she stepped forward and sat down on the stool positioned in front of the machine.

"Please place your arm on the table. I'll swab it with a disinfectant and then I'll draw your blood," the officer informed her.

Ellie nodded and laid her arm on the table. She flinched slightly at the cold wetness of the disinfectant as it cleaned her skin, then clenched her teeth as the needle pierced her flesh in search of the vein.

Tick, tock, the clock on the wall said.

Her blood slowly began filling up the vial.

Tick, tock.

Precious seconds drifted by as the officer placed the vial into the bloodwork machine. Her name came up from the database as the machine recognized her.

Tick, tock.

"You're free to go," the officer said cheerfully.

She returned to her place on the bench as Isaac, shaking slightly, replaced her on the stool.

Tick, tock.

The officer looked slightly askance at his helmet, but only said, "Please open up your RIG so I may take a blood sample."

Tick, tock.

Isaac grunted slightly as he tore open the RIG, holding it open so it wouldn't automatically mesh together. The officer swabbed the injection area.

Tick, tock.

Isaac hissed slightly at the piercing sensation as the needle entered his vein.

Tick, tock.

His blood filled up the tube. Ellie's heart pounded in time with the clock, only twice as fast.

Tick, tock.

The officer placed it into the identification machine, waiting for the right name from the database.

Tick, tock.

Ellie found herself mouthing a prayer to an unknown deity. 'Please help us get out of this alive. Please help.'

Tick, tock.

"You're Isaac Clarke?" the officer asked, incredulous.

Isaac tensed visibly, ready to fight his way out, but his voice was calm as ever. "What are you going to do?"

The officer looked extremely uneasy. "I-I don't know," she murmured, half to herself. "You don't... You don't deserve the trouble."

Ellie leaned forward, hanging onto her every word. 'This might be a way out,' she thought desperately. 'Please help us.'

The woman waited moments longer in the agony of indecision. Then she looked up, her eyes sharpening. "But the Unitologists are looking for you, and they're a bunch of bastards. I think I'll do the right thing and let you go."

Ellie could hardly believe what she was hearing. This woman, this USM Meteor officer, was offering a way out with no trouble!

The woman pulled a card from her pocket. "You'll need this to access the loading bay. Just go back the way you came and you should be fine."

"Thank you," Isaac burst out. "You have no idea how much trouble I went through with them."

"It's the least I can do," she said dryly. "Go. You don't have much time."

"None at all, actually," a smooth voice said.

Ellie spun around, her heart pounding. During their exchange, none of them had noticed the door open, or the five other officials that had come through.

One of the men, dressed in a fine suit with a pastor's collar, strolled leisurely over to the machine. "Isaac Clarke, I have been looking for you for... quite some time."

Ellie narrowed her eyes. She was able to spot a modification to the traditional collar - there was a tiny Marker embroidered right in the middle of the white band.

'Shit,' she thought. 'We just got cornered by a Unitologist.'

ISAAC POV

Isaac hated Unitologists. And yet here he was, completely at the mercy of a man who was no less than the pastor of the church.

The man's eyes glinted in a cold sneer. "So, you have two options. The first is to come quietly, and you won't be harmed. Or you can fight, and things will be even worse for you."

The visor retracted from Isaac's face. They already knew who he was - what was the point in hiding it?

"What if I choose neither?"

"We will find you," the man said, his smile like a snake's. It was cold and hungry, without any real feeling except malice. "There is no escape for you, Isaac. Sooner or later you must realize that."

"And Ellie?" he asked, his jaw clenching. "If I go, what will become of her?"

The man chuckled and looked at his companions. They were all licking their lips and eyeing Ellie with a dangerous look.

Isaac knew that look, and hated it. It was the look of sex-craving men who hadn't gotten laid in weeks and were looking for anything to satisfy their animalistic needs. That craze alone turned respectable men into beings no better than dogs.

"I'm sure my men will have something in mind," the pastor continued.

"Mm-hmm," one of them said, looking positively excited at the idea. To Ellie, he asked, "What's a pretty girl like you doing with an old man like him?"

Ellie hissed furiously, "I'd much rather have him than any other man. At least he has balls, unlike most of you here, I'm sure."

The man grimaced and cracked his knuckles, rolling his neck. "For that, you're gonna get it twice as hard."

An image came to Isaac's mind unbidden. He pictured Ellie being ravaged by the disgusting men, crying out his name for help, pleading with the men to stop. His blood began boiling with rage like an inferno, and his eyes were most likely blazing with cold blue fire.

His face as cold and hardened as marble, he instinctively took a protective stance in front of Ellie. Years of running and fighting had made him dangerous to cross, and he made sure that when he spoke, his voice was colder than the winds of Tau Volantis and full of steel.

"You're not going to touch her," he said slowly, enunciating every word. "If you so much as look at her, you'll have me to deal with." His voice rang with authority and was fiercer than the growl of a Necromorph.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop thirty degrees as he spoke. The faces of the soldiers were ashen and trembling, and Isaac got the feeling that they wanted nothing more to leave the room.

These men were easily cowed, forced into submission at the implication of a single word. And yet Isaac knew that the mindless were as deadly as a well-aimed shot from a plasma cutter.

ELLIE POV

Ellie was shocked at the deadly tone in Isaac's voice. Never had he spoken so harshly with her in earshot, in all the time she'd known him.

But they were still trapped, and just Isaac's words alone wouldn't be enough to get them out alive.

A plan started to form in her mind. It involved a needle and some distraction, but if it wasn't well-timed, they were dead for sure.

As quietly as she could, she breathed, "Isaac."

She knew he could hear her, but he didn't give a sign that he'd heard. Hoping against hope that he was listening, she whispered, "Distract them..."

He nodded minutely, barely a fraction of an inch, but it was good enough. She began making her way over as the men recovered, creeping with small steps.

The pastor said, "So. Have you made a choice?"

Isaac growled, "I'll die before I go with you."

There wasn't time to get any closer without being discovered, so Ellie grabbed the used needles and lunged for the pastor, dodging around the machine. Then she sank the sharp tips into his temple.

All hell broke loose as the pastor screamed in agony and the men dropped to the ground, expecting an attack. Ellie realized she had hit a vein in the pastor's head, watching the blood dripping to the ground.

Tick, tock.

They had seconds left to run. She grabbed Isaac's hand, who was thankfully the only one not shocked to death, and began to tug him out the door.

Once free in the hallway, they began running the way they came, as red alarms flashed and the earsplitting sound of a klaxon blared overhead.

The hallway seemed so long. It was like running in a dream; Ellie simply couldn't move fast enough. She felt like her feet were dragging through water, and behind her were the loud, heavy footsteps of one of the men.

But as the entrance to the loading bay drew nearer, Isaac leading the way, she felt a large body tackle her to the ground and Isaac's hand was torn from her grip.

"Get off of me!" Ellie gasped, stark terror in her voice. Above her, a man's crude face leered down at her.

"Aww, little girl's scared," he crooned. Ellie spat in his face and his eyes darkened with anger. He moved to straddle her body, trapping her under his huge form.

She didn't see his hand until it struck her across the face, snapping her head to the side with the strength of of the blow.

Down the hall, she saw Isaac, standing stricken with his body silhouetted against the light from the bay. "Isaac!" Ellie screamed.

She felt the man pulling her to her feet, but she pulled at the floor desperately, trying to get to Isaac. More hands were suddenly on her arms and sides as the group of men tugged at her body. She struggled and kicked and fought, but the four of them combined were too much for her to handle.

"Ellie!" Isaac bellowed as they began hauling her away. She saw him sprinting towards her, but suddenly she was going through a doorway, and then they locked the door.

'Oh, God... We're separated again. I promised myself I wouldn't let him go, but here I am. And the fuckers locked the door.'

**I hope you enjoyed it... For some reason I feel like this chapter wasn't as good. Sad face. And I kind of feel like I'm losing inspiration... I'm gonna go watch the ending scene and make myself cry. Then my writing will be better.**


	4. Leaving a Mark

**This is officially my favorite story out of all the ones I've ever done, here on FanFiction... I'm really not willing to stop loving this couple, and for some reason I just want to email Visceral Games and beg them to reunite Isaac and Ellie. Otherwise I'll die. **

**And just a notice: school started back up again after the break (why, God, why?!), so updates will be less frequent... But I'll do my best to not leave you guys hanging for more than a few days at a time. **

**Did you know the song "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starships kind of describes their relationship? It's interesting because the song is completely different and has almost nothing to do with it, but if you listen to the lyrics, you'll find a couple connections. **

ISAAC POV

The fact that beauty existed in all aspects of life was strange, Isaac reflected. The entire universe should have been dark and cold because Ellie was endangered with an uncertain fate, but here he was, staring up into a beautiful sunrise taking place over Earth, visible to the USM Meteor.

He frowned, and stepped back from the window. Beauty in all its forms wouldn't help him save Ellie, and that was his main priority.

Without warning, he suddenly let out a loud growl of frustration and slammed his hands on the window pane, breathing heavily. He'd lost her again, after all they'd gone through, and he was without a clue as to what the hell those disgusting pigs were doing to her.

His eyes were filled with a red haze again, like when Norton had put his hands on her body and kissed her lips. Nobody was allowed to touch Ellie besides him, absolutely nobody at all. He belonged to her and she to him - that was how it should have been and would always be.

But had that changed? Had she been corrupted, destroyed?

He'd heard rape stories before, and the victim was never the same after the incident. They were usually quieter and more paranoid, unable to live as they had before.

Isaac didn't know if he could handle a changed Ellie, a quiet one. A completely different version of the girl he loved.

He'd be damned if he was going to let that happen that easily. It wasn't on his agenda for the day - he had planned on leaving the USM Meteor and finding a safe colony on Earth, but he wasn't going home without Ellie.

After she had been captured, he had tried to find some way through the door, but the plasma cutter he always had at his side was for once left in the exam room. Kicking the door down didn't work, he couldn't find a door pad so he could hack it and get inside, and he didn't have a card, either, for the identification process. After remembering the card that the officer had tried to give them, he'd attempted to head back that way and retrieve it.

However, an extra patrol of officers drawn to the exam room from the emergency alarm had apprehended him. Seven to one were definitely not odds in his favor, and he'd been forced to run in the opposite direction, into a hallway where there was an elevator at the end. They had chased him down, lagging behind slightly, but it was just enough time for him to hack the elevator and take him to a different level.

After that, he'd taken refuge in an empty room, barred the door, and waited until the alarms had died down.

It was much too long to wait, and the possibility of the bastards not having touched Ellie was impossibly thin. Isaac could only hope that the men hadn't had their dastardly ways with her yet.

And sometimes, even just a little bit of hope was too much to ask for.

ELLIE POV

After nearly six hours, they still hadn't managed to break her, in more than one sense of the phrase.

Ellie had never known how unbreakable she was until it was the only choice she'd had, and this had proved very useful in her case.

They'd tried to be rough with her at first, forcefully trying to have their way with her and leaving bruises on her wrists and arms. Ellie fought hard enough to make them leave her alone, after several bites to the neck (and not the sensual kind) as well as some well-placed punches and kicks.

After finally figuring out that she wasn't having any of the roughness, they'd tried to coax her into the action with soft-spoken words and gentle caresses. All it succeeded in doing was making her shudder with revulsion, and her cold glares directed at them had indicated she wasn't into any of it.

The very idea of having any other man besides Isaac touching her was disgusting. It was an aberration, to be used in that way by anyone else other than the one she loved. Molestation was the only term she could think of to describe it.

Isaac had told her stories about men like them, back when they had still been living together on New Horizons. After a very long stay in wherever they had been stationed, they returned home disgraced by their actions away from their wives and families.

'That's just sick,' she thought, disgusted.

Ellie didn't know when Isaac was going to come back for her, but she decided that right then was a good time.

The thugs had left her alone for the time being, actually remembering that they were still on guard duty due to Isaac's arrival on the ship. From what she'd heard, there was a big uproar over the pastor's death from the needles, and the ship was still on red alert, searching for Isaac.

Hopefully he had found a safe, undisturbed place to hide. She still had to get out, at least.

Ellie stood up from her cramped fetal position in the corner, critically examining every inch of the room to find any possible ways she could get out.

Although there were windows - framing one of the most beautiful sunrises she'd ever seen; too bad she couldn't fully enjoy it - breaking them didn't seem to be an option. They were made of a thick, almost impenetrable glass that would have given her bruises and sore bones, had she tried to smash through it. And even if she had gone through, where would she go? Her RIGsuit had been left in the shuttle, so she wouldn't have any oxygen.

It was clearly not a good idea. A dead Ellie wouldn't help Isaac out of the situation much.

She moved on to the walls and ceiling, searching for any ventilation ducts or anything of the sort that would allow her to move from room to room. There was one located close to the wall, accessible from the desk placed under it, but it was small. She doubted she'd be able to get through it if she even had a screwdriver to remove the vent cover.

Sighing and running her hands through her hair in frustration, she moved on to the door. It was locked, strangely, but the orange holographic circle in the middle of it indicated that there was no way through.

"How the hell did they lock it from the outside?" Ellie said aloud, exasperated. She attempted to open the door, touching it with her palm and pushing slightly like she would open any other door.

As expected, the door didn't yield, and she was forced to admit defeat.

'Goddamn it,' she thought. 'I don't even have a way out until they come back.'

She shuddered at the thought, shivers running up and down her spine that had nothing to do with the room's temperature.

Ellie only had one option, and she didn't want to do it for fear of getting Isaac caught.

But she had no choice, and she knew that Isaac would rather himself almost get caught than let any harm come to her.

A small smile forming on her face from the depths of her love for him, she opened up a RIGlink to him. "Isaac? Can you hear me?"

ISAAC POV

At that moment, Isaac was creeping down the hallway to the elevator to return to the loading bay level. When he'd made sure that the alarms were off for the time being and nobody was in the area, he had slipped out of his hiding place.

He jumped, startled, when Ellie spoke to him. "Jesus!"

"Sorry."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Shit... Are you okay, Ellie? I'm so sorry - I didn't think we'd get separated-"

Ellie cut him off. "It's okay, Isaac. I'm fine. You've gotta learn to stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control."

He paused, looking around the corner to make sure nobody was there. "Where are you?"

"Down the hall from the door that you got locked outside, there's a little room off to the left. I'm in there."

"Did the bastards touch you?" Isaac demanded, worried.

He heard her familiar laugh, and felt relieved. "I'm fine, Isaac. Honestly, I love you, but sometimes you worry too much."

"I just don't like the bastards. Horny men are never a good thing." He paused to press the button to the elevator, hoping to God that there wasn't an officer who happened to be coming up.

There was a silence in which Isaac waited for the elevator.

"So," Ellie finally said. "Where are you?"

"I'm taking the elevator."

"You had to take an elevator?" Ellie asked, confused.

"After you were kidnapped, I tried to go back and get the officer's card because the door was locked, but then more security showed up and I had to run. I lost them after the elevator."

"Oh, I see."

The elevator door opened, and Isaac stepped in. Thankfully it was empty, and he punched the button that had the loading bay's level printed on it. To Ellie, he said, "Hold on, I'm almost there."

"Okay-"

But she was cut off by the sound of the door to the room opening, and Isaac could hear one of the men growling, "You're not getting out of it this time."

Ellie screeched and Isaac heard the sound of thumping and swearing, accompanied by the sound of a loud smack.

Then the link was terminated.

"Fuck!" Isaac swore loudly, slamming his clenched fist into the side panel. The elevator wasn't going fast enough, but he would have been even slower if he was running down eight flights of stairs.

He held his breath, trying his best to calm down and think rationally. 'If she's held them off for six hours, she'll be fine,' he told himself. 'Ellie's a tough girl, you know that.'

But his self-calming thoughts weren't exactly enough to calm himself, because when the elevator finally reached the floor he needed, he bolted out of the door, his limbs shaking with anger and fear.

Facing Necromorphs had never been like this. Sure, the first time he'd ever seen one, he'd wanted to crawl into a small hole and curl into a ball, but over time it had become almost routine for him to be chopping off limbs.

But take away the girl he loved, and he was more terrified than he'd ever been in his life.

It was strange to think of how much love changed a person, Isaac mused as he snatched the card from the table, then grabbed his plasma cutter and fled from the room.

It was a miracle that nobody else was to be seen in the hallway - maybe the higher beings in life weren't completely against him. He placed his palm against the door, pushing slightly, then held up the card for examination when it asked to see an ID.

He held his breath, waiting. The door clicked and slid open, and he raced down the hallway that Ellie had described and turned left.

There, he saw something that made him even more enraged than he already was, if possible.

One of the idiot crew members that he remembered from their previous encounter was attempting to wrestle Ellie into submission. Her struggling was visible in the marks she'd left on the man's body, in the form of scratches, bruises, and even bite marks.

However, Ellie wasn't without those small injuries either. Her face was red on one cheek and swelling slightly, and her arms were splotched bluish-purple from the man's harsh grip.

With an angry roar, Isaac tackled the man to the floor, rolling with his initial momentum to carry the two of them away from Ellie. As expected, he ended up on top of the man, straddling him and landing a hard punch to some part of his body.

"Don't - ever - touch - her - again," he ground out, punctuating each word with a hard hit.

The crewman wasn't completely defenseless, and he was able to throw a couple good punches to Isaac's head and torso that would have stunned him momentarily, had he not been so furious.

He would never let Ellie out of his sight again.

ELLIE POV

Her limbs had begun tiring by the time Isaac burst through the door, his eyes blazing with righteous fury.

For a moment, all Ellie could comprehend was how strong and full of energy he looked, despite his age, and how well he was able to do things that would have exceeded most men's range of physical ability.

After the man seemed to suffer enough damage, with a black eye and bloodied face, Isaac finally stood up, glaring down at the poor fool in disgust.

"Let's get out of here," he muttered. "I've had enough of this place."

"So have I," Ellie said, placing a quick kiss on his mouth.

And, after having been separated and reunited once more, the two of them ran from the room to the shuttle.

**Reviews, please?**


	5. On Home and Marriage

**I know the last chapter was a bit shorter than the others... Hopefully it didn't kill your mood. But to make up for that, I tried to make this chapter longer and more interesting. **

** Also, I decided to change the title and summary to fit the plot... Originally I thought it would be a one-shot, but now it's an actual story. Apologies, everyone. **

ELLIE POV

"So, what now?" Ellie asked Isaac as they were flying over Earth. The escape after he had rescued her had gone without a hitch, but now their main problem was finding a safe colony to stay for a while.

Isaac sighed from his place in the copilot seat next to her. "I was thinking I could try and find a place back where I used to live... Wait, scratch that. There were Unitologists there, and I don't want shit to do with them." He looked at her, obviously put out by his lack of inspiration. "What about you? Got any ideas?"

Ellie frowned and looked at her controls, trying to remember. "Well, the UK-based colony I used to live in had a strong EarthGov presence. Now that Danik overthrew them, they might not be as powerful, but I don't know if we should risk it."

There was a short silence afterwards, during which Isaac contemplated the possible consequences of moving there. "I don't know," he said finally, "but it's pretty much the only shot we have."

"Sounds good." Ellie set the coordinates for the United European Republic, adjusting the ship's path slightly to take her to the landing strip near the water. "I might be able to find somebody I know there... Maybe they can fill me in on what's happened while I was in space."

She stretched, wincing slightly and letting out a gasp of pain when her forearm bumped the dashboard. The bruises were darkening slightly after an extended period of time, and she knew they wouldn't fade for a while due to the serious bruising she'd taken.

She noticed Isaac's eyes darken as he watched her, and she sighed softly. "Isaac..."

"No, Ellie. It was my fault."

"It could have happened to anyone," Ellie protested. "We talked about this, Isaac! I don't want any more miscommunications, not like what happened last time. When we lived at New Horizons, we ended up splitting because we argued, and you've got another think coming if you believe I'm going to let you go. Just - just stop blaming yourself for stupid things that had nothing to do with you."

Isaac didn't answer, but instead looked down toward his legs, averting her gaze. "I feel like I should be here to protect you all the time. I failed. There's no excuse for that."

Ellie refused to let Isaac wallow in his guilt. "Isaac, we all make mistakes. I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left you, and the consequences were not nearly as bad as when they captured me. They captured me - you didn't leave me behind. It wasn't your fault, trust me. I refuse to let you beat yourself up over this."

Isaac half-smiled, and Ellie was somewhat relieved. "Really, Isaac," she added softly. "I'm okay as long as you are."

He finally looked up, and Ellie was able to see his blue eyes, thankfully unclouded by guilt. "If you say so," he quipped.

He placed a gentle, warm hand over hers on the gunship controls. "Get some rest," he told her, warmth in his eyes. "You've been flying us nonstop for two hours."

The USM Meteor was out of the atmosphere of Earth, so flying back to the planet would take quite a while.

She stifled a yawn at the mention of rest, but nevertheless shook her head. "It's only another two hours."

"Are you sure?" he persisted. "I know how to fly one, you know."

"I know... I'm fine, really."

The rest of the flight passed without much incident, the monotony only broken when Isaac commented on one of the more illustrious looking continents or when she made a joke. Finally, Ellie looked at the navigations system and said, "We're only about fifteen minutes away."

She began pulling the gunship into a path that would take them down to the landing strip, watching as they came closer and closer to the clouds. Then she turned on a transmission to the comms tower. "This is Ellie Langford piloting a Class 3, model A31-2D gunship, requesting permission to land."

Immediately, the comms tower operator replied, "Permission granted, go ahead and land."

"Thank you." She steered the ship towards the Tarmac once they emerged from the cloud cover, finally getting closer to solid ground. She'd missed the feeling of walking and having an actual planet, no less than the homeworld of humanity, under her feet.

The landing was smooth, and Ellie found herself actually excited to be back home. She bounced a little in her seat as the shuttle taxied in for a stop at one of the designated lots.

Isaac noticed this, and chuckled, "You seem excited."

"I am," she replied, laughing a little. "There's just so much to show you... Assuming everything is still there, of course. There was this little bookstore that I used to go to, and the bakery around the corner was a good hangout..."

She smiled dreamily as the shuttle finally stopped, lost in her fond memories of childhood.

But her life now was so much better, because she had Isaac.

ISAAC POV

'Ellie seems very at home here,' he thought as she led him through the busy, cosmopolitan streets. Upon exiting the shuttle terminal, she had proceeded to bring him to a taxi stop, where they had flown in the small craft to a little plaza.

"This is the bookstore that I told you about earlier," Ellie said breathlessly, gesturing to a large store with the standard window display. "I used to come here with my friends after school."

Isaac smiled, and she responded with an earth-shattering grin. After a brief moment of reminiscing, she pulled him into the store. "I'll see if I can find somebody I know here."

"Sure. I'll wait here, then."

He started idly browsing through the bookshelves as she wandered through the aisles. He kept a watchful eye on her, his mind only half on the book he was perusing. The other half was devoted to making sure she was safe. After all, losing a loved one so many times tended to make a person paranoid.

He was interrupted in his thoughts when a small hand tapped him on the shoulder. He had not been anticipating any visitors (after all, he'd never been there in his life), so he was startled to see a woman, maybe ten years younger than him, standing beside him.

"Hi," she said, smiling in a friendly way.

"Hello," he said automatically, wondering what on earth she could want from him. People usually didn't go out of their way to talk with him; he was one of the quiet workers where he was stationed. Only his coworkers talked to him, but usually he was passed up by everybody else.

He cast a glance back at Ellie, who had drifted a little farther away, still searching for somebody. When he turned around, he was faintly surprised to see her still there.

"You're not from here, are you?" the woman asked.

"Uh, no," Isaac replied. "Is it obvious?"

"Well, for one thing, you have an American accent. This is one of the more popular bookstores and I work here, so I've seen the same person several times coming through this bookstore."

Then she glanced around, clearly making sure nobody was in earshot. "And you're Isaac Clarke."

Isaac stood, dumbfounded, in the store. 'I came here to escape being noticed, but here I am, in a fucking bookstore, and I've already been recognized.'

His hand automatically moved to his plasma cutter as he realized the serious implications of the situation. His mind, already on a yellow alert, immediately changed to red alert as he spotted her name tag.

Amanda Altman.

Was it a coincidence, that she was possibly related to the man who had started the religion he hated? He couldn't be sure, and couldn't take a chance.

"Ellie?" he called quietly. She looked up immediately, her gaze softening, and jogged over.

But she recognized the woman, apparently, and rushed to hug her. "Amanda!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Isaac asked incredulously, "You know her?"

Ellie turned to him, beaming. "Yeah. We used to hang out a lot because she was my best friend's oldest sister."

"Amanda Altman," she introduced herself.

"You already know me," he said shortly. "Ellie, I think we should go."

"Why?" Ellie was confused. Then she realized, and said, "Oh. Can I... talk to you for a minute?"

Isaac nodded, and she led him over to a section of the bookstore guarded by high shelves, where Amanda couldn't hear or see them.

"Look," Ellie said, running a hand through her hair, "she's not a Unitologist. She just happens to be the daughter of the grandson of Michael Altman."

"How do you know she hasn't picked up on it?" Isaac asked, feeling dread creep down his spine at the very idea of it. "She knows me, Ellie. She recognized me."

"I know you don't like it, but she really doesn't approve of Unitology. Her father is involved with it deeply, but she doesn't care for it much."

Isaac searched within her blue and green eyes, letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding as he saw the truth in them. "Okay," he conceded, "but I'm still going to be on my guard."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." The mirth in her following smile was infectious, and he couldn't help but smile back as he followed her out of the section.

"Sorry about that," he apologized to Amanda.

"Oh, it's all right," Amanda chirped, still smiling. "Used to happen all the time." She shot a friendly wink his way, and something stirred in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't tell what it was, but he didn't like the feeling.

It was suspicion.

ELLIE POV

Ellie found it strange that Isaac appeared to be distinctly uncomfortable around Amanda. Sure, Amanda had never seemed to be quite so social with strangers, but she was about seven years older than Ellie, and things could change.

She dismissed the thought, instead asking Amanda, "Well, Isaac and I are looking for a place to stay while we're here. Have you heard anything about an empty place?"

Amanda tapped her chin, looking thoughtful. "I haven't heard anything for a while, but you can stay at my apartment until you find somewhere to stay," she offered.

Ellie nodded, unsure of what else to do for the time being. Isaac looked positively downtrodden when he saw her decision, and she made a mental note to ask him about it later. "Sure. Thank you, Amanda. This is really kind of you."

"Oh, please," Amanda replied, waving a hand in the air dismissively. "It's nothing. I'll tell Nora you were here, by the way."

"That sounds great," Ellie returned, excited at the prospect of seeing her childhood best friend again. "If you don't mind, Isaac and I will be off to get some lunch..."

"Go right ahead. My shift doesn't end for a while anyways."

Ellie grabbed Isaac and led him out of the bookstore to the bakery she had mentioned after saying her goodbyes.

While they were waiting for their food, Ellie asked, "Are you all right? You don't seem too... comfortable."

"She makes me nervous," Isaac confessed, looking embarrassed at the idea. "I have no damn idea why, but she just does. And she winked at me!"

Ellie giggled slightly, intrigued by the idea of a nervous Isaac. But on the inside, a little warning bell went off that told her this was highly unusual behavior for a woman in her late thirties, especially one that barely knew Isaac. However, she covered it up by saying, "I'm sure it's nothing. Don't overreact."

Isaac muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Right, and I'm a Unitologist fanatic."

Ellie rolled her eyes, stepping forward to claim her food. "Let's sit here," she told him, gesturing to a small couples' table.

For a while, as they ate, Ellie was able to forget their strange situation. They talked and laughed about certain moments during their time together in New Horizons.

"Remember that time when I tried to fix the shower head? And how it ended up getting fucked up and spraying ice-cold water on you in the middle of your shower?" Isaac laughed.

Ellie groaned in a good-natured way. "How could I forget? I checked the shower head every day afterwards. And don't forget that time when I somehow broke the bed... And you had work the next morning, but you couldn't sleep on the floor."

Isaac took her hand, still chuckling slightly. "You're fucking hilarious, you know that? I think I've had more fun fooling around with you than anyone else in my whole life."

Ellie knew it would be slightly impersonal to say it, but she couldn't stop the words from flying out of her mouth. "Even more than Nicole?"

Surprisingly, his mood didn't dampen at the mention of his dead girlfriend. "More than Nicole," he confirmed. "You mean more than Nicole to me in every way."

Ellie's face burned, almost with embarrassment. It was some emotion she had trouble identifying, and she couldn't tell if she wanted to flee the bakery, or kiss him hard on the mouth.

'Screw it,' she decided. 'He already knows I love him.'

And she leaned across the table and kissed him on the lips.

ISAAC POV

Although it was definitely not the first kiss he'd ever shared with Ellie, it still sent an electrical jolt through his body.

He then decided that meeting Ellie had been the defining moment in his life, and it was certainly the most important.

An important thought came to mind, and he could feel his face slip into its usual unemotional mask when he thought more deeply about it.

"What?" Ellie asked, seemingly perturbed. "Did I..."

"No, no. I just remembered that if we're going to stay here, I have to find a job so we can pay the rent." That wasn't exactly what he had been thinking, but he realized that it was true as well.

"Oh." Ellie was thoughtful for a little bit, staring off into space as Isaac gazed at their still-joined hands. "Well, I guess we can find some job that involves engineering so you can feel more at home."

He nodded, satisfied that they were reaching a suitable plan at last. Although there was still the threat of the remaining Markers (which he still shuddered to think about - he'd have to deal with that problem carefully) and those that wished to use him for their own devices, maybe he could at least be happy for the time being.

He stood from the table, motioning for Ellie to come with him. "Let's go. I'd like to scope out a few possible homes for us before we stay at Amanda's. I don't want to put too much trouble on her for taking us in... Anybody we associate with is at a risk of getting caught."

"All right," Ellie said, threading her fingers through his as he walked out of the bakery. "We need to go to the real estate office, but it's on the other side of the town."

"I don't think a walk is going to kill us," Isaac quipped. He was feeling remarkably well for having been rescued only a few days ago, thanks to the medical gel that he'd used on his cuts and scrapes. They had healed quickly, especially the one on his head, so he felt fine.

They continued to walk through the gray city, watching the air traffic as the crafts zoomed by overhead. The wide paths between the buildings didn't have actual pavement on them because, as Ellie explained, nobody in the United European Republic used cars anymore.

"It's hard to believe that five hundred years ago, people used cars to go almost everywhere," Isaac noted.

"Yeah, really. But I heard they caused too much pollution, and the world had to find something new..."

They walked for a few more blocks, simply enjoying the feeling of being together. Isaac was able to forget, for that time, that he was still in danger and that there were people who wanted him for Marker creation, and he was just able to remember that he had one very important thing to do.

Conveniently, Isaac realized that they were walking through a mall filled with the usual clothing stores and restaurants. He scanned the storefronts, hoping to see a certain type of store.

When he spotted it, he said to Ellie, "Wait here... I have to go do something."

"Like what?" Ellie asked, but he was already walking away.

Although his insides screamed at him to return and make sure she was okay, he reassured himself, 'She'll be fine... There's plenty of people here, and nothing will happen.'

He continued on into the store, checking to make sure that Ellie couldn't see what he was doing. When he was sure that his actions would be hidden, he began browsing through the items, narrowing down the possible selection until...

He found it.

It was perfect, he was sure. It was beautiful, simple, and gleamed with even the slightest light that hit it. It was the best reflection of his love for Ellie.

He brought it up to the cashier, and asked, "I'd like to place this item on hold."

The cashier glanced at it, and smiled. "That's lovely, sir. Your name?"

Isaac hated not being able to use his real name, but it was necessary. "David Strand."

The cashier nodded, and placed it in the cabinet under the register, locking it securely. "Give us a call when you're ready to pick it up."

Isaac nodded, then left the store. He realized that he would need at least five times as many credits to purchase it as he had stored up, so he would need a job as soon as possible.

He was determined to get a job and start a real life.

ELLIE POV

Strong curiosity burned inside her as she watched Isaac walk back to her, but she decided not to ask. Isaac would tell her when he was ready - she'd learned that from experience.

"Find what you were looking for?" Ellie asked him.

He nodded happily, and extended his hand. "Let's get to that real estate place... I want us to have our own home."

Ellie nodded, and took his hand, leading him through the large streets. After a couple more blocks, they entered a small plaza with the office located at the end of it.

Upon entering, the pair were greeted by a man wearing a suit. "Hello," he said. "I assume you're looking for a place to stay?"

Ellie nodded as the two of them sat down in front of a desk. "Just a simple apartment, nothing too fancy," she clarified.

"Okay," the man muttered, scribbling a few things down. "Location?"

Ellie looked to Isaac, who leaned forward and said, "Pretty much anywhere."

"Hmm. Any other specific details you want?"

"Not really. We're just looking for a place."

The man typed something into the computer sitting on the corner of the desk, and immediately a compilation of listings shot out of the bottom of it. He folded it up and handed it to Isaac, who studied it for a moment before putting it in his pocket.

"The prices are listed next to each place," the man informed them.

"Thank you," Ellie said. The man nodded, turning to his computer again.

As they left, Isaac said, "I guess we can check these places out later. Amanda's probably done with her shift by now."

After about thirty more minutes, the pair of them returned to the bakery. Amanda was waiting at one of the tables; she sprang up cheerily when she spotted them and motioned for the couple to follow her to the parking lot. "Perfect timing. I just got done," she informed them.

Ellie smiled and said, "Where's your apartment? I'd like to get an idea of where things are here... It's changed a little since I was here last."

As they seated themselves in the flying craft, Amanda answered, "It's not far from here, so if you ever want to stop by certain stores here, it'll take about five minutes." To Isaac, she mentioned, "And if you feel the need to work or make money, I heard that there's an engineering job opening at the tech center."

Ellie was surprised. 'It's only been what, two hours, and she's already managed to get a job opening for him?' It only added to her suspicions, but instead she said, "Oh, that's perfect! Thank you so much, Amanda. It's very kind of you to do this for us."

"I really don't mind helping an old friend out," Amanda replied, smiling. "It's the least I can do for somebody that was a good friend to my little sister."

Isaac said nothing, but looked at Ellie with a questioning glint in his eyes. Ellie made a face and lightly punched him in the arm, silently laughing as he exaggerated a look of terror.

The flight to her apartment was short. When they landed in the small lot, Amanda welcomed them into her apartment.

It was nice, homey, but Ellie wanted her own.

And with a bit of luck, she would get it soon.

ISAAC POV

Isaac walked up to the door of the same shop he'd been in two weeks before, opening it and making his way to the cashier.

It had been two weeks since the last time he had seen the coveted item. In that period of time, he had thanked Amanda for her gracious hospitality, and then put down the rent for a nice, small apartment not too far from where he had found the tech center job. The job was well-paying, and Isaac had found himself relaxing and enjoying his new life with Ellie.

Speaking of Ellie...

During their two weeks of living together, Isaac had become more and more sure that his choice was right. There wasn't time to delay - what was the point? The longer they waited, the more probable it was that they would become separated again, like the events of Tau Volantis, and that was definitely the last thing either of them desired.

The cashier smiled as Isaac approached. "I'm here to pick up something," Isaac told her.

"Sure thing, just a second." She rooted around in the cabinet under the register, unlocking it. "Name?"

"David. David Strand."

The young woman smiled upon retrieving the small object. "This one's a beauty... I hope she likes it."

Isaac waited patiently as she rang up the price, internally wincing at the steep fare. 'It'll all be worth it, though,' he told himself as he paid the large amount of credits.

The cashier handed him the item, saying, "Good luck!"

He had a feeling he wouldn't need it anyways, but he returned, "Thanks." Then he exited the shop, taking the now-familiar route back to their homely flat.

He couldn't help a large grin spread across his face as he walked along the street. As he walked, he could feel the small object bouncing slightly against his thigh, and he couldn't help but take it out one last time.

The black velvet was soft against his fingertips. As he opened it, the beautiful diamond ring inside sparkled like snow.

He couldn't wait to propose to Ellie.

**Aieeee! I hope you enjoyed it. Hooray for plot development and fluff!**

**Although I too love the romance, some things are heading their way that aren't exactly peachy. Just a warning...**

**Please review! **


	6. Very Pleasant Surprises

**I heard that the DLC for Dead Space came out on March 3... I'm excited. Yay! **

**One of my friends bought a Dead Space shirt. I took a picture. **

ELLIE POV

Ellie gazed out of the window at the view of the cosmopolitan area they lived in, absorbing the sight of the air traffic against a blue sky. The mug of coffee she held lent warmth to her cold hands.

The last time she had had a cup of coffee like this was before the Sprawl incident had occurred. Although she enjoyed it immensely, she felt the underlying fear that more trouble would come into their lives am rupture the careful structure of their safety here. Honestly, what were the odds of not having been discovered for a month?

Four weeks ago, almost to the day, she and Isaac had been scouting out several of the addresses listed on the paper that the real estate agent had given them. The apartment they were living in had struck their fancy because it was cheap, and it offered a good living arrangement for the price that was given. After a few more conversations, they had decided to place a down payment on the apartment, and it was theirs.

The apartment itself came furnished with a useful kitchenette, a single bathroom, and a living space, as well as one bedroom. Ellie didn't mind sharing the bedroom with Isaac at all, but his occupation had its repercussions.

The job that Isaac had (while still using his alias; how irritating it was) paid well, and Ellie found herself being able to relax. However, the work he did usually kept him up until the ungodly hours of the morning. She missed his warmth next to her on the bed, missed his deep breathing that lulled her to blissful unconsciousness.

Oftentimes, she wondered about him when he was gone. Did he miss her? Was he okay, doing whatever it was his work required?

Ellie stepped back from the window, frowning. The job had practically taken over Isaac's life, and she didn't like that at all. The only time they had together was mostly in the morning, when they ate breakfast, and when he came home late and crawled into bed. She would wake up and greet him, but he was too tired and usually only kissed her once, then fell asleep.

Her hand clenched into a fist. "Damn it," she said out loud. Placing the mug of coffee on the counter so she wouldn't do something idiotic, she rested her head in her hands, unable to do anything else to vent her frustration.

Ellie had rescued Isaac for one of two reasons: first of all, she loved him, quite obviously, and basically needed him to survive. The second reason was that they were both battle-worn and tired out from the shit they'd gone through, and she hoped that maybe, just maybe, they could settle down and hope to achieve a semblance of normalcy.

It was ironic that the job saving their asses was the job that was slowly killing her. There wasn't much of a choice for her - if she decided to have Isaac quit his job, they weren't going to have a stable income; if she let things continue as they were now, their relationship would be at a standstill, and she would be in a lot of pain.

Maybe Isaac would be too.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then let it out. 'I'll just have to talk to him about it... Maybe I'll radio him during his lunch break or something.'

She rested her chin on her hand, still leaning against the counter. There was honestly nothing to do; she made dinner for one nowadays, and spent most of her time trying to think of something to do, which was definitely not as productive as actually doing something.

Exasperated, she picked up her mug of coffee and stalked over to the desktop computer on the coffee table. She seated herself comfortably on the couch and pulled the computer onto her lap.

The screen glowed to life when she pressed her finger to the top right-hand corner of the glass monitor; tapping her fingers, she waited for the computer to finish loading up so she could look at something.

The background was a picture of her and Isaac, the same one that had been ripped in half and lost. She stared at the picture, wanting to reach out and touch his face, then looked away as tears began stinging her eyes. She clenched her jaw and shut her eyes tightly, willing the lump of clay in her throat to dissolve.

"Get a grip," she muttered to herself. The memory of them being together was a good one, but it was too bittersweet. They weren't exactly together now, and she missed him to the point of heartbreak.

ISAAC POV

The job took away valuable time that he could have been spending with Ellie, but they both knew that the job was the only thing keeping their heads above water.

He missed Ellie too, more than anything. He hadn't realized that it was physically possible to miss someone that much. Try as he might, he simply couldn't stay awake long enough to give Ellie more than a good night kiss, having been exhausted from a long day. He woke up at six to go to work at six-thirty; that only gave him half an hour with Ellie per day.

He contemplated his lunch as he sat in the cafeteria, finally able to relax during his lunch break. One of his coworkers, a man named Alex Stamford, sat opposite him.

Stamford was one of the more hardworking and honest men, and he and Isaac had bonded quickly. They were usually assigned the same shift in the same area.

"So," Stamford asked, "you got a girl at home?"

Isaac glanced up, surprised at the question. "Uh, yeah. You?"

Stamford pulled a picture out of his pocket, sliding it across the table to where Isaac was sitting. He picked up the small square.

Framed in the picture was a beautiful Asian girl. Her hair was long and flowing, framing a clear face. Her eyes were a startlingly light brown, unusual for a person of her race.

But what was most startling was her body. Her legs were long, her stomach was flat as far as he could tell, and her arm was slender.

Arm. Not arms.

Isaac studied the picture for a moment more, then gave it back. "She's a looker, that's for sure... But I still love mine more, of course. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her arm?"

Stamford's eyes darkened, and Isaac hastily said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a dick."

Stamford sighed and said, "No, it's not your fault. It's actually mine. I just don't like talking about it. Brings back bad memories."

Isaac nodded sympathetically. "If it makes you feel any better, my girlfriend lost an eye thanks to me," he offered.

Stamford sucked in a breath. "Damn. How?"

Isaac hesitated, knowing that he couldn't tell the truth without revealing who he really was. And he didn't know for sure if Stamford was trustworthy.

Stamford seemed to take his silence as a no. "Well, I suppose I'll tell you first."

After putting the picture back in his pocket, Stamford asked, "Can I trust you?"

Isaac gazed at him evenly. "Can I trust you either?"

Stamford leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "I don't know how I know this, but I feel that we're on the same side," he said in a confidential whisper. He glanced around before adding, "And I don't think you are who you say you are."

Isaac tipped his head to one side. He hadn't meant to bring it up, but now that it was out there, he felt as though they were indeed on the same page. "No, I'm not," he said finally. "Why don't you go ahead and finish your story?"

Stamford stared at him a moment longer, then sat back. "Okay. I think I can trust you, then."

Settling himself down, he said, "Jenna, the girl in the picture, has been wanted by the Unitologists and EarthGov alike for months. She was tested for years as a Marker code subject, and they extracted the codes from her head that she got from weeks of exposure to the Marker. She used to work as a sanitation crew member, and they always assigned her to clean up the area near the Marker. When they figured out she was seeing things and having dementia associated with the signals, they took her in for testing."

Isaac was as unfazed as ever on the outside, but on the inside he was reeling. He had always known that he wasn't the only person with those damn codes in his head, but it was still a shock to hear of someone else who had been subjected to the same torment as him.

Stamford continued, "I met her after nearly two years of her testing. She was being led to a separate room and I happened to pass by her when I was heading to my shift. One look, and I knew I had to find her again."

Isaac raised an eyebrow, and Stamford defended himself, "What? I wasn't just looking for a good screw, you know."

Isaac chuckled at that, and Stamford grinned. "Anyways, I talked to her when she finally got a week off from the testing, and I learned that she absolutely hated it. She hated the Marker and she hated everybody who worshipped it. I did too - those things make me sick."

Isaac nodded, saying, "I know what you mean. They're fucking horrors, those things are."

"Yeah. Well, I told her I would help her escape. We made a break for it, but one of the bastards shot a window on the ship. The airlock closed on her arm because she was standing too close and completely took it off."

Isaac winced in sympathy. "Shit... That's awful."

Stamford muttered, "Yeah. There was blood everywhere, but she kept going. She was tough - kept saying it didn't hurt, even though she was loopy from blood loss, and we eventually made it out of there."

Isaac frowned. "How come she couldn't get a prosthetic? That's what I did for my girlfriend."

"We didn't have the money," Stamford explained. "About three months ago, we settled down here, looking for a place to just stay hidden, you know. We basically had nothing left after we got an apartment, and I had to find a job right away. I was thinking of buying the prosthetic for her once I have enough credits."

Isaac nodded. "Those things are damn expensive, but she'll probably love it. If she's anything like my girl, she'll be ecstatic, trust me."

Stamford nodded, looking thoughtful. "I should go check out the price now," he murmured. "It wasn't too much last time I checked."

He looked at Isaac pointedly. "Now that I've told you my story, what about you?"

Isaac took a deep breath. "Just be warned: by associating with you, I'm putting you on the shit list for the Unitologists."

He leaned forward, lowering his voice so as not to be overheard. "I'm not David Strand. I'm Isaac Clarke, the fugitive."

Judging from Stamford's wide eyes, he clearly had not suspected that he was in the company of a wanted, red-listed fugitive. "Holy crap," he whispered. "No way..."

"Yeah, it's true. Now that you've seen what exactly you're dealing with, are you sure you want me to finish telling my story?"

Stamford glanced around yet again before replying, "Any enemy of the Unitologists is a friend of mine."

Satisfied with his answer, Isaac continued, "I met Ellie because we were on Titan Station in the middle of the whole Necromorph outbreak, and she tried to shoot me. I know it sounds weird," he added as soon as he saw Stamford's incredulous face, "but that's really what happened."

Stamford said, "Badass chick, am I right?"

Isaac laughed. "Hell yes. She was the only one of her group left. They all got picked off."

He paused for a moment, thinking back to when he'd dodged that near-fatal shot, before continuing. "Anyways, we went our separate ways until she met a man named Nolan Stross. Even though she told me not to contact her, she radioed me and told me she'd found him. I told her to keep a watch on him. Stross was a Marker test subject like me, and eventually his dementia got the best of him. He stabbed Ellie's eye out with a screwdriver. I ended up killing him too because he tried to kill me."

Stamford made a face. "If you were a Marker test subject like him, how did you keep it all under control?"

Isaac shrugged. "Willpower? I didn't want to die."

"Good explanation."

There was a companionable silence for a few moments before Stamford asked, "And then you got her a prosthetic?"

Isaac nodded. "After we got out of the Sprawl, we started living together. I eventually made the appointment for her to get the operation done."

"Nice," Stamford said appreciatively. "I'm guessing you guys are still living together now?"

"Yeah. You and Jenna too?"

"Pretty much... She has the dementia too, but I'm guessing that she's like you. She's doing fine, she's just a little paranoid about if we'll get caught."

Isaac sympathized, "I know the feeling."

He stood to place his plate in the trash, but his RIG signaled that he was being sent a transmission. Walking over to the outside of the cafeteria, by one of the windows, he answered it.

Ellie's face appeared over the video link. "Hi, Isaac."

"Ellie!" Isaac exclaimed. "God, I've missed you so much."

"I know, I did too. I didn't want to interrupt your work break because I know you have to eat, but I couldn't wait any longer."

Isaac could hear the pain in her voice, and hated himself for it. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. But tell you what, I'll ask if I can have the day off tomorrow, and we can spend the day together."

"I like that idea."

Isaac took a moment to take in his love's features, her eyes, her gently angled face. He hadn't realized that work would take up so much time, and he wanted to propose to Ellie as soon as possible. "What do you do when you're home by yourself?" he asked, feeling a little sad.

Ellie sighed, running a hand through her hair, which was down for once. "I just kind of lay around... I don't do much except when I'm cooking."

"For yourself."

"Yes. And then I eat by myself."

Isaac sighed, leaning against the glass. "Well, I'm taking the day off tomorrow, that's for damn sure."

Ellie brightened visibly. "Good! I can't wait until then."

The work bell rang, and Isaac muttered, "Crap. I gotta go. Bye, Ellie. Love you."

"I love you too." For a moment, she looked inconsolably sad, and Isaac wanted to hit something.

The link ended, and Isaac realized that he couldn't wait any longer. Hurrying to catch up to Stamford, he said in an undertone, "Hey. I have to ask you something..."

ELLIE POV

After the video link with Isaac ended, Ellie sat back.

Her lunch, as per usual, had been very solitary and she had eaten staring out of the window, watching the people walking on the ground below. Every time she saw a couple walking and holding hands, she wanted to chuck the plate out of the window.

So close and yet so far. She had who she needed, but it was terrible that she couldn't be with him for more than half an hour per fucking day.

She sat on the bed, just contemplating what she could do.

There was literally nothing, though. Not a single thing sounded even remotely fun because Isaac wasn't there. Before he had been accepted for the engineering job, they had just sat around and sometimes played board games, or even gone for a walk around the city.

She sighed and leaned back into the bed's fluffy mattress, wishing that Isaac's job had different hours. She hadn't busted her ass to save Isaac only to be torn away from him later on.

After a couple of minutes, she sat back up again. She would go back to the bookstore and just spend a couple of hours reading away, and maybe grab a drink while she was at it. That was infinitely better than just sitting around waiting for nothing.

Just as she was about to head out the door, an audio transmission came over her RIG from Isaac.

Surprised, she closed the door and leaned against the frame. "Isaac? What is it?"

His voice came over the radio quietly, as though he was trying not to disturb others in his vicinity. "Listen, I got the day off for tomorrow. Since I have something planned, I want you to go shopping and buy the best dress you can find."

Ellie was utterly bemused. "Uh, sure... Mind telling me what for?"

Isaac replied, "It's a surprise. I gotta go, I'll see you later tonight."

"Okay... Love you."

"Love you too."

When the transmission was ended, Ellie opened the door again and stepped outside, beginning the short walk to the strip mall outside of the apartment block.

The air was slightly chilly against her skin, but she enjoyed the crisp feeling of being able to walk outside. Of course, she had never had the freedom to walk on Tau Volantis, and with Isaac, there was always the danger that they would be recognized. Here, there was only the slight fear that somebody would realize that she was with Isaac, but it had been a month and absolutely nothing had happened.

She slowed her pace to a meandering speed, slower than what she'd been going before, and began scanning the store signs for a dress shop. The sign "Dresses and Gowns" caught her eye, although the name was rather bland, so she headed in.

The shop was full of mannequins modeling all sorts of beautiful dresses, but they would change from time to time, thanks to the holographic technology. Ellie stood for a moment, gazing at the gowns that ranged from frills and sequins to feathers and jewels, then finally walked over to one of the standard cubicles along the wall.

Inside, she took off her jacket and took a seat on the little bench. The display unfolded and lowered until it was at the perfect height for her, and a menu appeared on the screen for her to choose from. It asked, "Length?"

After a little debate, she chose the option "knee-length," and a selection of dresses appeared to her. She scrolled through them until she found one that she liked, with ruffles along the left shoulder strap and a narrow waist.

When she tapped on the image, the menu asked, "Color?"

She selected a nice navy blue, hoping it would make her look all right. Shopping for dresses had never really been a privilege for her - she had never planned on going to many formal events.

The menu display retracted after sending the message, "Please stand and remove all outer articles of clothing," and she stood, nervously checking behind her to make sure the cubicle was closed.

After she stripped off her outer layers of clothing, the machine ran a scanner along her body from a small gap in the wall, measuring her dimensions. After scanning her body from all angles, it retracted into the wall, and the display menu once again lowered to her level. She was presented with an image of herself wearing the dress, and the menu asked if she wanted it or not.

Ellie critically examined it from all angles. The narrow waist emphasized her full chest and her hips, and the skirt had a nice flare to it, flowing to her knees. The ruffles along the shoulder strap were a nice touch, and the color was fairly flattering.

She pressed the "yes" button. The menu processed her request for a moment, then said, "Thank you for shopping with us. Your dress will be at the cashier desk."

When the menu retracted and the light dimmed slightly, Ellie redressed herself, wondering what on earth Isaac could want her to buy something fancy for. Credits didn't grow on trees - both of them knew that.

"Must be something important," she said to herself as she pulled on her pants. Isaac was fairly frugal... Maybe the new job he'd gotten was making him feel more prosperous and able to spend a little bit more than he would normally.

She pressed her palm against the door to open the cubicle, stepping out into the store. One of the mannequins was displaying her dress, modeling the exact color and fit.

She had to admit, she rather liked the feeling of being able to spend money on material objects.

At the cashier's desk, she watched the machines quickly make the dress from the satin, amazed by their exact precision and speed. Within moments, the cashier held up the finished dress, then zipped it into a garment bag and handed it to her.

Ellie passed over the credit chip, watching as the cashier inserted it into the machine slot and gave it back to her with the remaining credits appearing for a moment on the screen.

She walked out of the store and made her way over to the bookstore that Amanda worked at, smiling at her friend when she saw her.

"Ellie," Amanda said warmly. She nodded at the bag tucked under Ellie's arm. "What's that?"

Ellie answered, "Isaac told me he had something planned for tomorrow and wanted me to buy a dress, so I did. I don't know what he's got on his mind, though..."

Amanda paused from where she was taping a seal to a book and said thoughtfully, "I don't know either... It's probably just something special. I know he hasn't seen you in a while."

Ellie sighed, leaning against the counter. "Yeah, work really takes it out of him. He comes home, takes a shower, and then falls asleep right away."

Amanda pursed her lips. "How long has it been since you guys did anything together?"

Ellie confessed, "A while. I miss him a lot."

"I'm sure he does too."

There was a pause in which Amanda continued to glue the tag to the book. "By the way," she added almost casually, "someone's here to see you. She's waiting at the table over there."

Ellie glanced over at the table closest to them. Sitting there was a young woman, about her own age, with light blond hair.

Ellie frowned. Something about her was familiar... Almost like she'd seen her somewhere and was very close to her at one point.

Sensing her uncertainty, Amanda gave her a little nudge. "Go on, she's waiting."

Ellie gave her an incredulous look, then went and sat down at the table. "Um, hello," she said quietly.

The woman looked up, her startlingly green eyes sparkling as she recognized who it was. "Ellie?" she questioned.

Ellie gasped, shocked. "Norah? Oh my God, I can't believe it's you!"

They both stood up and embraced each other, exchanging a look. "I missed you," Ellie said. "All that time... I honestly don't know how we never got to talk again."

"I don't know either," Norah said, pushing back her hair. "Sit down! We need to catch up again."

The two of them sat and talked for a while, discussing their childhood and exchanging stories of what had happened to them during the long gap between their last meeting and the present.

It was very pleasant to be back with friends, Ellie thought. Especially ones she hadn't seen in nearly a decade.

However, she was anxious for the time to pass by, anxious for the moment when Isaac would come home and she would be able to see him again. Frequently, she found herself glancing at the holographic clock mounted on the wall.

Norah noticed this. She asked, "Are you waiting for someone?"

Ellie said, "I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't seen my boyfriend in a while and he's coming home tonight."

Norah flashed her a saccharine smile, and Ellie rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up. Yes, I got a boyfriend."

Norah's eyes flashed with interest. "Who?"

Ellie pulled the half picture of Isaac out of her pocket. Just in time, she remembered to say, "This is David."

Her friend's eyes flashed with some emotion that Ellie couldn't identify, but she merely asked, "How long have you known him?"

Ellie considered this for a moment. "Not very long," she said. "But I do know that he's the one for me."

Norah smirked. "Cute. Where does he work?"

"He's an engineer at the Tech Center. His job keeps him there until almost three sometimes... I can't wait for tomorrow. He said he has something planned for us."

Norah flipped back her long, blonde hair. "Sounds awesome... I can't believe how much you've changed."

"I can't believe you either," Ellie retorted. She lifted a chunk of her friend's hair, grinning. "You dyed it? And I don't remember your eyes being green, either."

Norah laughed. "I got tired of the regular brown and brown, okay? When I got older, I decided it was time to change."

The rest of their time together was spent bantering about what life was like for them now, where they lived. Ellie noticed several different things about her friend besides her looks. She had piercings were none had been before, her eyes glinted almost with menace, and she spoke with a condescending sort of manner. The worst change was the Unitology bracelet that she wore proudly on her wrist, but she decided not to ask.

When it was time for Ellie to go, she found that she couldn't wait for whatever it was Isaac had planned.

It would be exciting, that was for sure.

**Kind of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. **


	7. Everything as it Should Be

**It's so sad how some people don't get to see their loved ones very often... I'm grateful that I get to every day. **

** Does anybody else think that Sonita Henry is absolutely gorgeous? She plays Ellie in the games and also provides her likeness. She is so beautiful. **

**And a lot of people think that since Isaac is almost 50 and Ellie is about 30, there is no freaking way that they should even be together. I completely disagree, because you can't stop love, and sometimes age is just a number. Take my aunt and uncle - my uncle is ten years older than my aunt, but they have a beautiful and very smart baby boy. So suck it! Haha, I really just worship Isaac and Ellie more than anything on the planet!**

ELLIE POV

She was woken from her sleep by the sound of the door to their apartment opening and somebody stumbling through. Rubbing her eyes to erase some of the sleepiness, she sat up, tangled a little bit in the sheets.

"Isaac?" she called softly.

His head poked around the corner of the bathroom wall, his eyes lighting slightly. "Sorry," he whispered. "Go back to bed."

Ellie swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and walked to the bathroom, leaning on the doorframe. "No, it's okay. I'm not really that tired anyways."

He smiled, and Ellie felt like a miniature sun had lit up inside of her, filling her with warmth. "How was work?" she asked quietly.

Isaac yawned, rubbing his face tiredly. "It was okay, just really tiring as usual."

Ellie placed a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing slightly. He relaxed and leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. "God, I missed you," he said.

Ellie didn't answer, just pressed a kiss to his head.

She didn't realize he'd actually fallen asleep standing up until his breathing deepened and became more rhythmic, and she sighed. Working off of three hours of sleep a night was really taking its toll on him; he looked almost as tired as he had when fighting those undead bastards.

Her stomach clenched at the thought of the Necromorphs, the disgusting creatures that were hell-bent on destroying everything that wasn't like them.

She knew it wasn't over yet. There were still more Brethren Moons waiting in the universe, and only one more was needed to restart Convergence. Shit would really hit the fan if another one was created.

And what about the Unitologists that believed mankind's time was over? They had probably sent teams to Tau Volantis after they'd heard about the possible death of the man who would make them all whole, and were scouring the planet in hopes of finding him.

Isaac was alive, and it was only a matter of time before they found out and started hunting him down yet again.

Ellie looked down at the man resting beside her, feeling a surge of pity for him and hatred for those who had used him in the past. It surely wasn't his choice to become the martyr to save mankind, but he chose to do the "right thing" and attempt to save them all. After giving the human race another chance three times, he deserved a break.

But of course, Isaac wouldn't get one. Life wasn't fair, it really wasn't. A permanent solution to their dilemma would have to be found eventually, but Ellie didn't even know if there was one. They could keep running until they died and therefore deprive the Unitologists of what they needed, but it would be difficult to survive on just a day-to-day basis, let alone for the remainder of their time on Earth. And even if they did manage to survive that long and stay away from the Unitologists, they would only be saving themselves, basically screwing everybody else.

The religious idiots would find another person like Isaac, one with the unique ability to destroy and create Markers. And then everybody would be dead; there would be no tomorrow. The people of future generations deserved a chance to live, to actually do something worthwhile. It wouldn't have been fair for them to die before they could live, if that made any sense.

It all came back to what she and Isaac could do about it.

She sighed quietly, irritated with the way that her thoughts brought up difficult issues and ruined the moment. Isaac shifted under her arms, then started, his eyes blinking blearily and struggling to focus. "Sorry," he mumbled, gripping the counter in an attempt to stay standing.

Ellie chuckled a little bit. "It's not your fault, Isaac. Go take a shower."

"I might drown," he groaned good-naturedly.

Nevertheless, he began stripping off his jacket and shirt, stumbling to the shower as he undressed. Ellie turned to give him some privacy, walking out of the bathroom and to their bed.

She couldn't yet fall asleep, the anticipation of what was to come the following day keeping her awake for some reason. She knew it would obviously be a lot of time to spend with Isaac - that meant she needed to let him sleep so he could stay awake the following day - and she was ecstatic to have him to herself for an entire day.

'Finally, he's able to spend some time with me,' she thought, a slow smile beginning to spread over her face.

From behind the closed bathroom door, she heard the sound of the shower stopping and the curtain being pulled back, then the sink starting as Isaac began brushing his teeth.

Ellie laid back in the bed, wrapping the thin sheets around her as she waited for him, just waiting and listening to the quiet rasping sound of the brush against his teeth. Several times, she heard the pauses and then the restarts as he fell asleep and woke again.

She laughed quietly. Isaac, so tired he could fall asleep standing up.

She wondered how he'd done it, back on the Sprawl by himself. Hell, she wondered how he managed to not kill himself and give up and say, "Fuck the world, I'm done with this." There had been no time to rest - fall asleep by accident, and there was more than a fifty-fifty chance that you would wake up a Necromorph.

Isaac was definitely stronger than he looked, Ellie mused. Although Stross (how she shuddered to think of him) had only been a secondary test subject, exposure to the Marker had rendered him insane and useless, with debilitating hallucinations. And here Isaac was, no more insane than she.

It would be hard for her to trust anyone else who had been exposed to the Marker, she knew. Losing an eye and nearly her own life tended to make her paranoid and slow to trust. If she met anybody who even remotely reminded her of Stross, she would probably end up blowing his or her brains out, no matter who it was.

The bathroom door opened, spilling light into their bedroom. Isaac stumbled out slowly, rubbing his eyes and mumbling, "So tired."

Ellie laughed quietly and patted the space next to her on the bed. He crawled next to her after shutting off the light and plunging them both into the comforting darkness, and slipped under the sheets.

Ellie felt his hands searching for her under the sheets, twitching slightly when he softly caressed her back. She snuggled into his warmth, moving into the traditional spooning position as he wrapped an arm around her.

When they had finally settled, Ellie noted, "You seem to be making more of an effort tonight." She was referring to the fact that all that ever happened was a kiss, and then he'd roll over and fall asleep. This was really something new.

Isaac replied sleepily, "I really, really fucking missed you."

She smiled and felt him press his lips to her neck. "Goodnight," she whispered.

He didn't respond, his breathing quickly deepening into a soft snore. Ellie could practically feel her face glowing.

ISAAC POV

He woke up to find that the other side of the bed was unoccupied and that the sheets were cold.

Dazed from his dreams and the extra amount of sleep he felt he'd gotten, he flopped back down onto the pillows, trying to remember what he'd even dreamed about.

It was something... Something strange. Something bad and alien.

He shuddered. Now he remembered, and he wished he hadn't.

"Isaac?" There was a shadow in the door.

He jolted again, and raised himself to his forearms. "Ellie?"

"Sorry," she whispered, moving a little closer. "Are you still tired?"

Isaac looked at the holographic clock on their bedside table. It was 7:30, so that meant he'd gotten an hour more of rest than he was used to. "I'm actually pretty well rested," he told her. "Just had a bad dream."

Ellie walked to the bed, laying on the sheets next to him. He wrapped an arm around her like he had the night before, feeling her warmth. "What about?" she whispered.

"I... It was pretty bad," he whispered back, looking into the beauty manifested in the gentle shape of her face. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Ellie gazed back at him, her eyes softening as she absorbed the serious tone of his words. "I'm sure. And Isaac," she added before he could start, "it's okay."

As Isaac felt her small hand take his, he relaxed, knowing that today was going to be just him and Ellie.

"It was when we found the gunship," he confided, his voice automatically lowering. "You remember?"

"Of course I remember, you selfish bastard," Ellie laughed, leaning against him playfully. "How could I ever forget?"

Isaac smiled as he absorbed the scene: the both of them, dressed in casual sleep clothes, him wrapped in the sheets still with his arm around her, sharing quiet words like any normal couple would. But he grew serious again as he remembered that they weren't quite normal, and began to continue his story.

"You didn't go," he said quietly. "You chose to stay with me once I told you I had to destroy the Marker."

He swallowed as he recalled the next part. "And... You managed to survive with me up until when I encountered a Regenerator, one of those undying bastards."

Ellie nodded, her face devoid of emotion, although he could detect a flicker of fear in those mismatched eyes.

"I tried to distract the thing, to get it away from you while you were getting to the door. I shot it all apart and when it was changing, we ran through the door. But when I opened the next door, I turned around..."

He choked, feeling like he'd swallowed a ball. The words wouldn't come through.

Ellie prompted him in a soft voice, "And...?"

He looked away. "And you were standing there, staring down at the blade that was sticking through your chest."

Ellie's eyes had widened in horror, but she remained silent.

"You whispered, 'It hurts. Isaac, it hurts,' and then you collapsed." Isaac turned back to her, feeling sick.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Ellie finally moved again, rubbing her thumb soothingly over his hand.

"I'm sorry." Isaac broke the silence. "That was a hell of a way to start off the day we have together."

"It's okay," Ellie comforted him. "I know you haven't really had a nightmare in a while... I used to, until we started living together, and sharing a bed. Then they disappeared, and... And I guess that's how I knew."

Isaac turned to her, confused. "What?"

"I felt safest around you, Isaac," she explained. "I was able to sleep knowing that you would protect me and be there for me. Even though we didn't - didn't meet under the best circumstances, I found that I just couldn't stay away."

"That's why you came back to save my ass," Isaac teased. "I always knew something was there."

Ellie laughed and nudged him again. "Wanna get up now?"

"Sure," he said. Ellie grabbed his hand and pulled, much like she had when they were climbing to the top of the mountain on Tau Volantis. She apparently noticed the same thing, because she placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him long and hard.

Isaac wrapped his hands around her waist as their mouths moved, smiling as he thought of the things to come that night.

When they finally broke apart, Ellie said, "That should have been what happened there."

"Yeah, really," Isaac agreed, laughing. He took her hand and they walked to the kitchen, Isaac pausing to tap on the window and change the window from dark to clear, letting in the sunlight.

They made a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, Ellie giggling as she cracked the eggs against the pan. Isaac would distract her from time to time by pinching her sides or sneaking up on her.

As they sat down at the table positioned near the window, Ellie remarked, "God, I never ever used to giggle when I was younger! What have you done to me?"

Isaac defended himself, "Don't act like you don't like it!"

Ellie rolled her eyes, picking up her fork. "Shut up and eat."

They ate in silence, Isaac looking out the window into the beautiful morning and observing the many people walking and otherwise going about their business. "We're lucky to have found this place," he noted.

Ellie nodded. "Lucky that either of us managed to survive the clusterfuck of dead bodies, mind you."

Isaac snorted. "Don't remind me... Although I hate to keep bringing this shit up on our day together, it's kind of necessary."

"I know what you mean. It's fine."

Isaac took a deep breath, preparing his mind to approach the horrendous obstacle that would prevent them from having a proper life if not dealt with properly. "Well, we know that the Moons are all out there in the universe, and we only destroyed one. I know that it's a stupid idea to go running around and trying to take them all down, but we have to find a way to stop it all."

Ellie smiled sadly. "I know, I know. But we're just two people, and the universe is huge. I don't even really know how exactly we could stop an epidemic like that."

Isaac set down his fork. "I don't know, but we have to try."

Ellie's eyes hardened with determination. "Yeah. We have to, for the human race. Because it would be really damn selfish to give up on them all."

"I'm glad you understand," Isaac said grimly.

"Well, last time I wasn't so understanding, and look what happened then," Ellie said pointedly.

She was referring to the separation that nearly ended them both, and Isaac sighed. "That wasn't the best choice, really."

"No, it wasn't." Ellie stood up and placed her plate in the sink, clearly wishing for a change of subject. Eager to comply, Isaac asked, "What do you want to do today?"

Ellie spun around, her eyes lighting up. "Anything you want to," she replied.

"Sounds good," he said, standing as well. "Get dressed... I have something to show you."

ELLIE POV

"Would you mind telling me exactly what you have planned?" Ellie asked, still utterly unaware as to what Isaac was thinking.

Isaac had made her wear the satin dress she had bought in the store the other day. After donning it, he had brought her in a taxi to a very secluded park, and he'd even dressed up for the occasion as well. Although the RIG permanently instilled along his spine slightly marred the effect, he still looked very handsome, slight beard and all, wearing a black suit. She'd even overheard him mumbling under his breath, "I don't even remember the last time I wore a freaking suit."

Ellie knew her mind was telling her something, her instincts were triggering certain thoughts of flowers and love and veils, but she was denying it.

And now, still refusing to give her even a hint, he was leading her through a section of the natural park, filled with beautiful woods and a glimmering pond.

As they approached the edge of the water, Isaac slowed down a little, walking much slower than they had originally. The midday sun glimmered on the water, reflecting in the most attractive way.

At the shore, he stopped, and Ellie paused alongside him, still gripping his hand and feeling very serene, here with him in the slight breeze, with her dress flowing around her knees. "I didn't even know this was here," she confessed. "In all the time I lived here, I just... I never realized this existed."

"The last natural park in Europe," Isaac said, his voice soft and melancholic. "I brought you here to remind us both that beauty exists everywhere, even in the darkest of places."

He turned toward her then, and Ellie's heart melted when she saw how clear his eyes were, how obvious his love for her was. "Ellie, I know I should have done this earlier, and I really regret not having asked before we were nearly separated forever. I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I feel the happiest I've felt in a long time around you. I don't want to be away from you again, ever."

Ellie was at a loss for words. But she jolted when he dropped down on one knee and pulled a small, velvet-covered black box out of his pocket. "Ellie," he asked quietly, gazing up into her eyes, "will you marry me?"

Warm tears flooded through her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand, trying to control the explosion of joy that had burst inside her body. The droplets of salt water began streaming out of her eyes, and she threw her arms around Isaac, hugging him fiercely.

"You don't even have to ask," she whispered, completely overjoyed at the thought of spending the rest of her life with him.

She would never have to worry about him again. She knew he loved her, an she loved him more than anything. He was everything to her, all that she had left in the world, and they would both be able to face anything together.

Even the Markers wouldn't be enough to tear them apart.

**Although this chapter was shorter, I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Please review... I check my story stats every day and I find that the number of reviews per chapter is slowly dwindling. Sad face. **


	8. Beauty Before the Storm

**Thank you to all that reviewed, especially Elitecore, who also keeps me entertained with the PMs that he sends. You guys are all amazing! **

**I love FanFiction. I love Isaac and Ellie. I love everything at this moment!**

**Sorry about the delay... School is a bitch. **

ISAAC POV

"Your happy glow is blinding," Isaac commented as he opened the door to their apartment for his new fiancée.

Ellie laughed and lightly swatted him on the arm. "I'm just... I'm just so happy to be able to legally be with you."

"I know. I am too."

Ellie stepped inside, and Isaac took a moment to admire her figure, so set off by the navy color and the fit of the dress. He had never seen anybody so beautiful.

He closed the door behind him and walked forward to the window, putting an arm around Ellie's shoulders as they examined the view.

"It's so beautiful today," Ellie murmured as they absorbed the sight of the sun, shining down through wind blown clouds in an azure sky. "It's almost like it's just for us."

"Hey, maybe the universe decided to not hate me for once."

Ellie leaned her head against his shoulder, laughing lightly. "The universe never hated you, Isaac. Especially if it let you live this long."

"That's true," Isaac conceded. "And if it let me find you."

Ellie raised her hand and placed it on his chest, resting it there. Isaac responded by lowering his head and letting their lips meet in a gentle kiss.

Another jolt went through him, setting his nerves alight with energy. It was similar to the time when he had gotten electrocuted at work, but it wasn't quite as bad. No, this energy tingled through his veins and burned his skin, making his heart pound.

Isaac had never felt so alive.

When they broke apart, Ellie stared up at him, her shining gaze piercing straight through his body to his soul. "I always knew it was you," she whispered.

"What? You always knew I was the one putting you in danger?"

"No," Ellie retorted, clearly irritated that he'd ruined the mood. "I couldn't care less if there was a good chance that every day I would die around you. It doesn't matter to me; I'm not just some poor, pathetic girl who always needs somebody to take care of her. Not like Norton thought I was."

Isaac snorted at the mention of the traitor that had tried to kill him. "He thought you were pathetic?"

"Well, not exactly. But he always insisted that I needed saving when I'm perfectly all right on my own."

They continued to watch as the sun slipped down a little in the sky, content to be with each other. Below them, the passersby continued with their lives, probably blissfully unaware of what it was to be a refugee. Isaac wondered what it was like to be normal, what it must have been like five hundred years ago, when people had no idea of the Markers and Unitology had never been born.

But he would never be normal, a fact that reared its ugly head at him every day. Whenever he saw Ellie and her heterochromic eyes, he was reminded of Stross and the debilitating effects of exposure to the Marker, and wondered how she could ever be safe around him. Every time he saw Stamford and was greeted with the new knowledge in his friend's eyes, he thought of the danger he put his friends and loved ones in. He even jumped at shadows occasionally, when he woke up and couldn't fall back asleep.

No matter how far he ran, how hard he tried, Isaac would never be able to escape his past or the horrors of the present.

Ellie startled him when she said suddenly, "He talked shit about you, you know."

"Huh?" Isaac said.

Ellie looked at him, a sort of fierce rage burning in her eyes. "Norton. He talked shit about you to me."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "He talked about me to my face."

"Asshole," Ellie muttered. "I told him off for it once, and then he flew into a rage. Like, an absolute tantrum! And then he said that there was no reason for me to defend you because we were over with."

"Were we?" Isaac asked, serious. "I don't think we ever covered that base."

"I think you already know the answer to that," Ellie answered quietly. "Like I said, I always knew it was you. It was stupid of me to try and forget that. It's not as if I ever could anyways."

"Glad to hear it."

There was an awkward pause while Isaac debated whether he should bring the topic up or not. Ellie was waiting expectantly, looking up at him. She'd obviously picked up on the fact that he wanted to say something else.

"What?" Ellie asked, much like after the Titan Station incident. "Tell me what's on your mind, Isaac."

"Uh, you sure you wanna know?"

"Isaac!"

"Okay, okay." Isaac could feel his face burning as he stammered, "Did you and Norton uh, ever..."

Ellie stared at him, bemused. "Ever what? Spit it out!"

"Did you guys ever get physical?"

Ellie's eyes widened as she grasped what he was getting at. "God, no. Isaac!"

"Hey, you wanted to know..."

Ellie shut her eyes, sighing in exasperation. "I didn't think it would be that. Well, we never did. He asked, almost pressured me into it, but I held back for some reason."

"Why? He was pretty persuasive when he wanted to be, right?"

"I didn't want to give up on you, I guess."

"So when we were talking about how I gave up on the world, but I never gave up on you, you didn't give up on me either?"

"Give me a second to figure that out... No, I guess I didn't. I told you, I never wanted to."

"Just checking. Honestly, I don't think I could have lived if you gave up on me anyways."

Ellie stared straight ahead, looking out toward the ocean visible just in front of the horizon. A small smirk was on her lips, and Isaac wondered what she was thinking. "I have a confession to make."

"Um, okay?"

"I didn't want to say it in front of everybody else, but I... I was kind of glad you killed Norton."

Isaac was stunned. "You what?"

"I said, I was a little happy that you killed him."

"What... what the hell?"

"Look," Ellie said, trying not to laugh at the shocked expression he presumed was on his face, "I knew that I wanted to end things with him after it was all over. I knew you were the right choice - dammit, Isaac, don't you dare get a fat head from this - but I also realized that Norton would throw a fit if I left him. So when you killed him, I was half glad, half horrified because I knew that he wouldn't be around to make things worse for you when I chose you again, but then there was the problem of you actually killing him."

Completely thrown by her declaration, Isaac fell silent. His mind was reeling - who would have known what she was thinking at the time? She hid it fairly well - at the new information. He found it hard to believe that she could have been happy that her current boyfriend was gone, especially if they were in a relationship. It just didn't make any sense.

What else didn't make sense in his life?

'A lot,' Isaac thought. His mind returned to the issue of the Necromorphs, and he shuddered.

"What?" Ellie asked. They seemed to be covering a lot of important topics, and Isaac was curious about that.

"The Necromorphs," Isaac sighed. He looked at Ellie, and saw that she had opened her mouth as well, as if to add something to what he'd said. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, it doesn't have anything to do with what you just said. But I was wondering... If we can't use your real name, how are we legally going to be married? I'm not getting married to some fake name, no matter what you say."

"If we go and we get married using our real names, the Unitologists or even EarthGov could track us down."

Ellie shrugged. "I know we could handle it, Isaac."

"So you're practically saying that you would be fine with getting married under our real names, no matter the consequences?"

"Pretty much. Isaac, what's the worst that could happen?"

Isaac almost smiled as he remembered the near-exact phrase that he'd replied to Carver with, fondly remembering the soldier's bravery. "Well, we could die."

"I don't care, as long as I'm with you."

Isaac turned his body so that he was facing Ellie straight on, and grasping her shoulders firmly, looked directly into her eyes. "Ellie, I put you in danger because of who I am. That's not a good thing, and if I had a choice and if you weren't so damn stubborn, I would send you away to keep you safe."

Indignantly, Ellie opened her mouth, but Isaac cut her off. "I can't keep doing that to you, Ellie. I get terrified when I'm at work, and I'm not there to watch your back."

Ellie's eyes softened as she realized how earnest he was about the subject. Isaac was sure that the panic that threatened to overwhelm him was visible in his eyes, audible in his heavy breathing. She reached up to touch his face, and he let the warmth of her soft hand relax him, slow his heart down.

"Isaac, it's okay. Because I love you, and it doesn't matter to me anymore. Norton tried to protect me too often, but he didn't realize that I was capable of defending myself. I know in my heart that we were meant to be together. This is real, Isaac. I refuse to fuck it up, and I know you don't want to either."

At this, Isaac looked away. "I..."

"Trust me," Ellie murmured softly. "This won't work if we can't trust each other."

"I-I can't lose you. Not after... Not after Nicole."

ELLIE POV

Ellie couldn't help the wave of rejection that she felt was washing over her, drowning her in its depths of red pain and hurt. She looked down at the ground, unable to meet his eyes, and took a deep breath. It shuddered as it dragged through her throat and into her lungs.

Isaac seemed to have noticed this, because he asked, "What? What is it?"

"Is that what it's all about?" Ellie whispered sadly, still not meeting his eyes.

"About what?" Isaac replied, bewildered. "Ellie, what-"

Something inside Ellie snapped, and she looked up, her eyes filling with tears. "You can't let her go, can you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ellie took a step back, shrugging off Isaac's hands. She gripped her head, feeling the tears break loose and start streaming down her cheeks, the hot little droplets of water burning trails into her skin. "This is the last thing I want to do on the day you proposed to me, but I need to know." Her voice was cracking, and she wished it was as strong as it had been before, like on the Sprawl. She was invincible then, untouched by anyone.

She'd never felt this way in her entire life. She had been tough and unbreakable, hardened by the adversity of the Sprawl. Where had that all gone? She was such a different person - more than likely she would not have recognized herself back in the Sprawl.

What had happened to her?

She was confused by love, stricken by love, hurt by love. Burned by love. Consumed by the depths of her love for Isaac.

Ellie knew she was in love with Isaac, completely and totally in love with him. It wasn't a stupid crush, the likes of which she had felt for Norton and the other young men of her teenagehood. They had all come and gone, but her heart lay with Isaac.

She loved him, but did he love her?

Ellie raised her head again, and Isaac was still there, confused and stricken by some unknown emotion. Quickly, before she could change her mind, she asked, "Nicole. Do you still love her?"

Isaac's eyes widened, and he took a step forward. "Ellie. That's what you're worried about?"

She breathed, "Yes. I need to know."

"I just proposed to you. I think that says pretty much everything." He reached up, tentatively, and gently brushed her tears away with his thumb. "Ellie, you have to trust me on this. I love you more than anything, more than I thought was even possible. Nicole was my girlfriend, but she was just that. I let go, and I moved on. You are my life, Ellie. I want you to understand that."

Ellie gazed, through her eyes blurred with tears, into his light blue eyes.

And she was able to see that he was being one hundred percent honest with her.

She leaned forward and embraced Isaac, crying, "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to mess things up."

Isaac held her close, pressing his lips to her hair. "It's okay," he whispered. "You needed to know. I'm fine with that."

She tried to stem the flow of tears, unwilling to keep crying and further weaken herself. "I just... I just felt so unsure about the whole thing. I don't want to lose you, Isaac," she sniffled.

Ellie was relieved to hear Isaac chuckle and run his hands along her shoulder blades, still holding her to his chest. "I think it's safe to say that I'm yours forever."

"And I'll never let you go," she murmured back, finally succeeding in stopping the tears pouring out of her.

He held her until she was able to breath evenly, and then she asked, "I think we need to focus on the good things in our lives."

"Like us."

Ellie found that she had enough spirit to roll her eyes. "No, I meant the Necromorph threat. Yes, us."

"Well, how do you propose to do that?"

She smirked and walked to their bedroom, beckoning. "If it's all right with you... I know for damn sure I'll never spend my life with anyone else."

Isaac smiled and followed her, stripping off his suit jacket as he did so. "I think I'm fine with that. I'll never want anybody else either."

He shut the door behind them, and they finally found that love was possibly one of the best things that life had to offer.

* * *

She sat, sipping at a cup of tea, waiting for the transmission to come in. Expectantly, she stared at the transmission holomonitor, tapping her fingers on the desk before her.

She glanced at the clock near her. 'It's 3... I should have heard from him by now.'

Sighing, she stared out the window, heavily anticipating the weeks to come. After all that time spent waiting, their glorious plan would be enacted.

It was time.

The little chirping noise that signaled an incoming transmission jerked her to her senses, and she hastily pressed the "accept transmission" button, waiting for a brief moment before the person's face appeared.

When the older man, perhaps sixty or so, appeared, she dipped her head respectfully. "Father. Altman be praised."

"It's good to see you again," he intoned. His elegant-looking clothing indicated his Enigma level within the Church; clearly he was very important. The woman herself was a Vested-level, the result of being Altman's granddaughter.

The Enigma continued imperiously, commandingly, "I have received news from the USM Meteor. The pastor Liam Treymarch was killed by the man Clarke and his accomplice, Langford."

The woman nodded. "Yes. I've seen them myself. They're here."

The Enigma nodded, satisfied. "Good. I'm pleased with your work." He pulled out a sheaf of papers from within his jacket. "I have also received information that all is not lost quite yet. The Tau Volantis incident has awakened our Brothers. They are coming for us. It is time. We need Clarke to be absorbed for our very own Brother to be made and consume us all. Be ready."

"I am," the woman said, smiling. "How much time?"

"Less than a month. Prepare yourself, Sister and daughter. We are ready. And they are coming."

The transmission ended, and the woman felt a rising tide of excitement.

"I hope you're ready, Isaac."

**... And the shit hits the fan. This is the part where things get a little sketchy for our favorite couple.**

**I hope you're all okay with the fact that they physically became a couple. Although the story hasn't even been that long yet, they haven't got a lot of time, and I think that anybody in that situation would want to be together as soon as possible, just to maximize their time with each other. **


	9. Evidence of Love and Enemies

**Did anybody else get slightly scared by the DLC? I was really worried afterwards, and I was freaking out for hours. **

**Anyways, I made their time constraint about a month, because it seems logical for what I have planned, and I actually don't know how long Isaac and Carver were stuck down there. **

**Also, some adult content is going to be mentioned... Don't shoot me if you don't like it. **

ISAAC POV

When the time came for them to go to sleep, Isaac was dreading it.

The sun had set, darkness was falling, and it was time to rest.

He dreaded it because the night meant that he would go to sleep. Hours would pass by while they were both blissfully unaware of the waking world, hours would pass and then he would wake up and go to work.

And then the whole process, the never-ending torment of not seeing Ellie, would repeat again.

He wasn't sure if he could handle it. Every day that he didn't see her, he felt empty, he felt like his insides were missing. Now that they were engaged, the pain of parting would be even worse, and he wouldn't be able to take another day off for a while.

'Family before work, Isaac. Not like your mother.'

His stomach clenched at the mention of his mother, who had thrown his entire future away for the sake of her own status within the Church.

'No. I won't do that to Ellie.'

As willing as he was to stay awake, his eyes drifted shut, his grip on the sheets relaxed, and his breathing grew deeper.

He fell asleep.

He didn't dream, but he felt a warm sense of love and comfort that he hadn't felt in ages, accompanied by Ellie's soft voice whispering his name.

God, if he left her...

Isaac opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the light tint to the window, darkened as it was by the built-in shade.

It was time.

Would he go? Should he?

He raised himself to his forearms and surveyed the room, looking for the woman that he had recently given himself to. The sheets were empty, although they were slightly warm, and her white nightdress, usually draped over the bedpost, was gone too.

Isaac stepped out of the bed and pulled on his shirt and shorts, quietly calling, "Ellie? Ellie, where are you?"

He was relieved to hear a soft, "In the living room."

He entered the living room with light steps, feeling like he didn't want to disturb the peace. Ellie was standing by the window, looking out once again.

He walked to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Ellie looked up at him, surprised. "Aren't you going to go to work? I mean, not that I want you to, but..."

Isaac shook his head. "I can't. I'll leave that job if I have to, but I won't leave you."

Ellie's eyes brightened, and she leaned into him, smiling. "Oh, thank God. I woke up early, completely worried about not being able to see you again. I was so afraid, Isaac... I didn't want to be away from you ever again."

"I know. I didn't want to either."

Once again, they stared out of the window together, Ellie comfortably snuggled into the crook of his arm. "What happens now?" Ellie asked quietly.

Isaac sighed, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "You know, I really don't know. That job paid really well, so it's not like we're going to starve... If we just kind of save up until we can find another job, then I think we'll have about a month until we have to really do something."

"A month isn't really that long," Ellie mused. "I don't know, Isaac..."

"Don't worry. Everything's gonna work out fine."

They watched the morning scene outside the window for a little while longer, then Ellie suggested, "Breakfast?"

Isaac smiled and pulled her away from the window, heading for the kitchen. "What do you want?"

"You know what? I'll make it. Maybe it'll be good practice for when we're actually married," Ellie quipped, pulling some eggs out of the fridge. Isaac winked at her, saying, "I'm going to go get changed."

He went to their bedroom to pull on a long shirt and pants, straightening up the sheets after changing. As he pulled at the corners, smoothing them over, he couldn't help but grin widely as he remembered the events of the previous night.

Ellie's hands, gripping his back tightly. Her quiet sighs in the room. The electrifying feeling of her lips against his, so warm and soft. The feel of her smooth, slender legs wrapped around his waist. Her glorious cry of release, the most beautiful sound to his ears.

He wasn't going to lie - he'd enjoyed it immensely. It was a wonder, to physically be with the person that he loved.

But of course, he wasn't just using her for sex. He wasn't an impersonal bastard; he loved Ellie with all his heart and soul.

Once Isaac was finished rearranging their bed, he walked back into the kitchen, listening to Ellie hum quietly as she cooked.

"What song is that?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Ellie looked up from where she was sliding the eggs onto a plate. "Hmm? Oh, just a song I liked listening to when I was younger. But I tried to forget it during the Sprawl.. For some reason it makes me think of it too much. When I was walking alone, I'd just hear it for no reason at all."

Isaac grimaced. "What song?"

Ellie hesitated, then said, "It was called 'Lights.' Ironically, it was sung by a girl with the same name as me, and I guess I'm not too afraid to sing it now."

Isaac placed a hand on his chest and quipped, "It's because I'm here," all the while grinning cockily.

Ellie aimed at him with the fork she was holding, then lowered it, laughing lightly. "You bastard," she said affectionately. "But you're right. I do feel the safest around you."

Isaac stepped forward from where he was leaning against the wall and strode over to the brunette woman, throwing his arms around her and embracing her tightly. She returned his fierce hug, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and molding her body to his. "I can't believe I almost killed you," she murmured quietly.

Isaac had no idea what she was talking about. "Wait, what?"

Ellie laughed. "Don't tell me you don't remember! I shot at you when we first met - that shouldn't be that easy to forget, right?"

Isaac chuckled. "Oh, that. I can't say that I wasn't impressed. And it happens all the time, you know; the people trying to kill me thing. You get used to it after a while."

Ellie stared into his eyes seriously, craning her neck to look at him. "You've had a hard life," she said, distress obvious in her eyes.

The last thing Isaac wanted was for her to be upset, so he quickly said, "Like I told you, it's not a big deal. I'm still alive, and that's something in itself, right?"

Ellie looked away from him, towards the wall, and muttered, "Right. But you deserve to be happy."

Isaac gently tilted her head back to where she was able to look at him easily. "Hey. Look at me. Who says I'm not happy?"

"I'm sorry," Ellie said, laughing almost in an embarrassed way. "That made it sound like I don't make you happy..."

"But you do," interjected Isaac.

"I sure hope so," Ellie said sarcastically. "You know, since we're engaged and all..."

She rested her head on Isaac's chest again, and he inhaled the soft scent of her chestnut hair. After a little while in which not much happened but them cuddling, Ellie said, "Why don't we eat these eggs instead of letting them go cold?"

Isaac let go of her as he said, "Sure." Then he frowned, knowing that he was missing something that he'd wanted to ask earlier.

Ellie noticed his expression. "What is it?"

"Oh, I just remembered. Uh, what song did you say it was?"

Ellie made a face. "It was called 'Lights.'"

Isaac said cajolingly, "Want to sing it for me?"

Ellie's eyes grew wide. "Well, as long as I don't get damn nightmares or something."

"You won't," Isaac reassured her. "I'm here, remember?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. And as long as you don't mind my voice."

"I've heard you sing sometimes. It sounds fine. Stop stalling!"

Ellie held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay!" She cleared her throat. "Here goes..."

Quietly, her voice high-pitched but musically so, she began,

"I had a way then

Losing it all on my own

I had a heart then

But the queen has been overthrown."

Isaac listened as she continued to sing, her voice easily reaching the higher notes of the song.

"And I'm not sleeping now

The dark's too hard to beat

And I'm not keeping now

The strength I need to push me."

Isaac's eyes widened as he continued to hear the rest of the song.

"You show the lights that stop me

Turn to stone

You shine me when I'm alone

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

And dreaming when they're gone."

In his head, he could see the dark halls of the Ishimura and the Sprawl, flickering sporadically as the lights turned on and off. He could hear his own panicked breathing, feel the erratic, desperate thumping of the vital organ keeping him alive in his chest. He could feel his fingers gripping the essential weapon tightly, and his eyes were wide with fear and alertness.

"'Cause they're calling, calling

Calling me home

Calling, calling, calling home

You show the lights that stop me

Turn to stone

You shine me when I'm alone..."

When Ellie stopped singing, Isaac shook his head. "I can see why you were scared."

"I know. It was terrifying... The entire time, I kept hearing myself thinking, 'You either give up and become one of them, or you keep going, no matter how scared you are.'" She shuddered slightly. "The song - it would just play over and over in my head, no matter how many times I tried to get it out."

"It's all right," Isaac said, smiling comfortingly at her. "Just don't think about it, and let's eat."

Ellie put the plate on the table and handed him a fork, and they began to eat their breakfast.

As Ellie took a bite, Isaac swallowed his mouthful and said, "What's our plan now? Since I'm fairly sure I'm fired... And we really don't have anything else to do."

Ellie snorted. "I honestly don't know. Maybe we should have thought this through..." But she seemed to reconsider what she had just said, and then shook her head. "No. I'm glad we can just be together again."

"You looked like you were having second thoughts there," Isaac said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, just shut up."

When they finished their breakfast, Ellie began washing the few dishes that had accumulated. "I was thinking that maybe we could just... you know, hang out?"

Isaac smiled at the almost shy tone in her voice. "I'm fine with that... Why don't go change when you're done cleaning?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah. And then maybe we could go to the bakery, or the bookstore."

"Either one sounds fine," Isaac said. "And we could go and get a real certificate for our marriage license..." He raised an eyebrow hopefully.

Ellie smirked. "Let's. I don't really want it to be a big fancy thing if we can't do it without being shot at."

"Great. There's a marriage licenser at the mall, I think. Seriously, that mall has the most random shit in there." Isaac paused thoughtfully.

"I know, right? But if we can use it, maybe we shouldn't complain." She laughed, placing the very last dish in the sink to dry. Then she straightened up, toweling off her hands on the dish towel. "I'm going to change."

She walked into their bedroom, but apparently didn't notice Isaac following her until he shut the door, a broad grin on his face. When she heard the door shut, she turned around, surprised.

"Since we have another day off..." Isaac began, but Ellie's lips were already on his.

ELLIE POV

"Are we going to do anything all day besides this?" she asked, a warm smile spreading across her face.

Isaac was mindlessly tracing patterns on the tan, smooth skin of her exposed arm, the rest of her body wrapped in the sheets. "I don't know," he answered lazily. "Do you still have something in mind?"

Ellie rolled to her back, sighing happily. "Not really. Except our marriage..."

Isaac propped himself up on one arm, and Ellie glanced at the silvery, thin scars on his arms. "We could do that now," he said, but Ellie wasn't listening. She reached forward, tears filling her eyes as she stroked it softly.

"Ellie?" he questioned.

For some reason, seeing the everlasting effects of his time near the Markers and the undead never failed to make Ellie emotional. She hadn't cried about it for weeks, but it was always hard to look at him and not think about all the suffering he had gone through.

And yet, he was here. Isaac, the man who had saved the Earth many times over, who could have taken his life and left the rest of them to die. Who had given up any hope of never having to be afraid, who had sacrificed his personal safety for the good of man.

Who was here with her, and cradling her softly, and murmuring quietly to her to stop her tears.

"Don't be upset, Ellie," Isaac said to her quietly as he held her to him. She shut her eyes and gripped him tightly, listening to the soothing sound of his voice. "I'm fine, all right? I'm still here. Nothing bad's happening."

"But... you're just..." Ellie couldn't put into words how much she loved him, and the fact that he was only one man, who was wanted by many. It was impossible for her to describe the turmoil she felt inside at any mention of how much pain his life had taken him through, how much she just wanted him to be safe and happy. So instead, she craned her neck and let their lips meet in the gentlest of kisses, and when they broke apart, she breathed, "I love you more than my own life, Isaac."

"I love you too," he murmured, his blue eyes darkening as they did when he was serious. "I always will."

He continued to hold Ellie as she gradually calmed down, her heart rate slowing and the tears slowing down in their path from her eyes. When she was able to think about it and not become riled up again, she looked up at him, hastily wiping the excess salt water from her face, and whispered, "Sorry about that."

Isaac gave a half-hearted smile, gently brushing the tears away with his thumb, and replied, "Don't worry about it. It's okay."

Ellie raised herself to her arms. "I just... For some reason I feel a tad more emotional when I think about it."

"A tad?" Isaac quipped, smiling fully, and Ellie laughed. "Yeah, really."

She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pulling her undergarments on. "Come on," she said, laughing when Isaac groaned and flopped his head on the pillows. "Let's get that marriage license."

Seemingly reluctant, Isaac heaved himself out of bed and began pulling his clothes on, muttering something about wanting to stay in bed with her forever. Ellie smirked and pulled on her jacket, grabbing his hand as soon as he was done changing and pulling him out the door.

When they exited the apartment building, Isaac immediately hailed a taxi, and Ellie looked at him in surprise. "We could have just walked, you know," she reminded him.

Isaac hesitated, looking unsure. "I don't know, Ellie... I just feel like something bad's about to happen. I want to get us licensed as soon as possible."

Ellie frowned. "Okay, I guess I'm fine with it if that's the case." She looked up as the taxi approached, and stepped in when the hatch opened.

Once they were seated inside, she asked, "How do you know?"

"Know what? Oh, the feeling that something bad's going to happen?" Isaac paused, thinking. "I don't know. It's just a feeling, I guess."

Ellie bit her lip. "I don't understand why, though."

"Just because I'm a Marker killer?" Isaac suggested quietly. Ellie nodded, and he smirked. "No big deal. But I've learned to trust those feelings over the years. They saved my life - it's a good idea to listen."

Ellie smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, twining her fingers in his. She noticed, absently, that the spaces between his fingers allowed hers to fit just right between them.

They stared out at the sight of the beautiful United European Republic before them, but Ellie found herself unable to enjoy it as she normally would. She kept thinking that something was going to happen, an event that would change their lives. She didn't know if it was a good feeling, but she knew to trust her inner voice as well as Isaac's.

The taxi halted at the mall entrance, and Isaac paid the fee as they stepped out of the craft. Ellie looked around, shielding her eyes from the bright sunshine, and pointed at the small storefront that depicted a man and a woman getting married. "Right there."

Isaac smiled broadly and took her hand, walking at a quick pace to the store. He was obviously excited, and Ellie could feel a bubble of anticipation in her stomach, causing a smile to come to her face as well.

Inside the shop, there were the standard kiosks that allowed two people to step inside and fill out their marriage license. Ellie pulled Isaac over to the nearest one, and they opened the doors to the kiosk.

"It's so weird that we're not having a real wedding," Isaac muttered as he began selecting options.

"Just something simple," Ellie reminded him. "Whatever works, right?"

He grumbled, "I feel like you deserve better."

"Hey. I don't need anything else when I'm with you, all right?"

Isaac glanced at her, one side of his mouth quirking into a smile. "Yeah, sure."

Ellie turned to the monitor and signed her name, smiling as she did so. Isaac slid the ring onto her finger, holding her hand delicately, and then signed his name as well, smiling in turn as she put the ring on his finger.

The monitor processed their information, their real names and the signatures, while Ellie waited, bouncing on her seat a little. Then it said, "Your marriage records have been sent to the international database. Thank you and congratulations."

Ellie turned to Isaac, practically able to feel her face glowing. "We're married now, officially."

Isaac agreed, quietly, and then kissed her yet again, resting his hands on her hips gently.

In the eyes of the entire world, they were now married, and nothing could change that except for themselves.

And Ellie was damned if she was going to even think about leaving him.

ISAAC POV

At Ellie's suggestion, they headed to the bookstore that Amanda worked at so Ellie could share the good news. While his new wife chatted with her old friend, Isaac hung back, still wary of the woman.

He heard Amanda say, "Congratulations! I didn't even know he'd planned it."

"Well," Ellie responded, "I didn't either. It was a very pleasant surprise!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac saw movement from one of the tables. Earlier, he'd noticed that there were a lot of suspicious-looking people, but he hadn't brought it up to Ellie, determined as he was to let her talk to an old friend.

He moved protectively to Ellie, and she immediately picked up on his mood. "What is it?" she asked in an undertone.

Before Isaac could reply, one of them stepped forward. He couldn't help it - out of instinct, his head snapped toward the potential threat, taking in the Vested-level Unitologist uniform, the bleached-blonde hair, the green eyes-

"Norah," Ellie whispered in astonishment. "Norah, what-"

Norah cut her off, her eyes, dancing with excitement, locked on Isaac. "It's time, Isaac."

Isaac frowned, his fists clenching. He couldn't remember ever meeting her, but she clearly knew who he was. "What the hell do you want?"

At his side, Amanda muttered, "What is she doing?"

Norah continued, smiling, "The time for change and unity has come. You can no longer stop it; our Brothers are coming for us in less than a month. Your chance to prevent Convergence has come and gone, and now, we will use you to create our own Brother!"

Ellie gasped, "No!"

Amanda snarled, anger obvious in her voice, "What have they done to you?"

Norah snapped at her sister, "You turned your back on the one thing that could save us all! You can't see what we can see - a better life for us all. Our time as humans is over. We must turn our fate over to the higher beings, the greater powers!"

Ellie's voice was hard when she said, "I didn't realize you changed that much."

Norah countered, "I didn't realize you were so blind to the truth. Don't you see? It's over, and we need Isaac to make things better for us all." To Isaac, she extended a hand, and he gritted his teeth. "Come, Isaac," she murmured. "It's time."

Behind her, the Unitologist guards hefted their guns threateningly.

Isaac's hand crept closer and closer to Ellie's, and she grabbed on tightly. She looked at him, fear in her eyes, and he shook his head imperceptibly.

In his head, he was able to hear the song playing again, and he shivered.

It would grow dark soon, and he needed to protect the light.

**Here we go!**

**Please review. I only got three for the last chapter... Sigh.**


	10. The Beginning of the End

**Seriously, who needs enemies with friends like these? Now Ellie gets a taste of what it's like to be betrayed. That blows. **

**And don't even get me started on Isaac... If he dies at one point (not saying he will anytime soon, not in my story!), he would definitely go to heaven for putting up with all of this shit.**

ELLIE POV

After all they had gone through, the careful lives they had led and their effort to keep themselves and each other safe, she and Isaac had still managed to find themselves in big fucking trouble.

They just couldn't catch a break. And Isaac...

He'd already been through much, much more than the average person, and he just deserved some time to have a normal life. Not one where he was wanted for other people's needs and desires, definitely not a life where he was being used by other jerks who cared for nothing more than their next meal.

She wished she could give him that, but that was nearly impossible, due to the fact that he was a Marker killer.

Their time to be normal was up, and now it was time to be a fugitive again.

Ellie felt the tense squeeze of Isaac's fingers on her hand, and knew that he was contemplating their options. The Unitologists were clearly unwilling to let them escape this time around, and the guns in their hands would tear them apart before they even got around the corner.

Surrender wasn't an option, however. If they caught even just her, there wasn't a chance in hell that Isaac would leave her behind, no matter how she would plead for him to escape. It would be all over if Isaac chose to be taken, and then they would really be out of options then.

As Ellie squeezed his hand back, she felt the ridge of her beautiful wedding ring, so recently given to her from Isaac, press against her finger, and she made her decision.

They were both coming out alive, together with each other as they had sworn and promised in their hearts, or not at all. Ellie wasn't going anywhere without Isaac, and it was as plain as day that he wouldn't leave her either.

She shook her head a fraction of an inch as well, and muttered out of the corner of her mouth, her lips barely moving, "We stick together."

Isaac clenched his jaw, apparently unwilling to put her in danger, but she ignored it.

What was most interesting to her at the moment was the fact that Amanda's hand had moved to her pocket, and she was fumbling with something inside of it.

Was it possible...? Could it be-

Amanda looked up, directly at Ellie, and said, "I'm sorry."

Ellie opened her mouth in confusion, about to ask what she was doing, but then Amanda wrenched her arm out of her pocket and hurled something straight at her sister.

The bomb bounced off of Norah's pristine Vested-level uniform and fell to the floor.

Ellie stared at the bomb in horror and surprise for a second, then pulled Isaac and Amanda down and behind the counter, sheltering as the explosive detonated. Blood splattered around them and bits of body parts hit the books, but it was nothing Ellie hadn't seen before, and she looked at Isaac to make sure he was fine.

He looked back up at her and touched her face briefly, then looked at Amanda. "How the hell did you-"

"I knew she had changed big time," Amanda said shortly. "I took to carrying around some sort of weapon because I knew she was affiliated with Unitology, and I didn't care for that. It was only a matter of time before she brought more trouble with her."

Ellie peeked around the corner just to make sure that they were all gone, and a quick glance at the bits and blood on the floor confirmed her suspicion.

Her stomach twisted when she spotted bits of blonde hair and what appeared to be a green color contact laying among the red splotches and the scattered weapons, but her mind shied away from the truth.

Her former best friend had betrayed her. Norah had intended to kill her and Isaac - how could she not have seen that? The proud way she had carried herself and the Unitologist bracelet on her forearm was enough to tell, and although Ellie had one too, it was simply for a friend who had sacrificed himself to save her. It didn't mean she believed in it.

All she felt was a mild curiosity to see what would happen next. She wasn't keen on thinking too much about it, however, and focused on what Amanda was saying.

"You need to get out of here," Amanda commented as they all stood, Ellie once again taking Isaac's hand. "The alarms will attract security, and I'm leaving too. It's not safe for any one of us to even be in the Republic anymore."

Isaac nodded and looked at Ellie, then back to Amanda. "We need more people on our side to help us through this, and you really helped us when we needed it. If you want to, you can join up with us."

Amanda looked away, taking in the ruined sight of the bookstore, and sighed. "I helped you because I knew you were a good person, one of the few who could see the truth. So yes, I will come with you."

"It won't be easy," Ellie warned her, feeling the need to explain just what would happen. "More than once, you'll be putting your own life at risk."

Amanda shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Nothing's left for me here anyways."

Ellie glanced up at Isaac, and he murmured, "She's right, we have to go."

Decisively, Ellie said, "We'll meet back at the strip mall. See you then."

Amanda merely nodded and walked around the edge of the counter swiftly, disappearing from sight. Ellie watched her for a moment, then turned away from the horrid scene behind them, pulling Isaac along as they made their way back to the apartment.

As they ran, Isaac said, "It's too risky to take a taxi. I know it'll get us there faster, but I don't think we should take that chance."

Ellie agreed, "Yeah, I know. It's not that far away either."

Their bloodstained clothing, splattered with gore, was attracting some attention. Around them, passersby were glancing at them and muttering to their friends, and Ellie felt Isaac increase their pace as they neared the apartment. More than once, they took back alleys and side streets to divert any people who might have been following them out of curiosity.

Once they reached the apartment building, they rushed inside and headed for the stairs, completely aware of the fact that their fellow neighbors were gawking at them. One of them, an elderly woman, called out, "Ellie, dear, what's going on?"

Ellie couldn't answer, already racing up the stairs with Isaac on her heels. As they reached the fourth floor, Ellie panted, "What's our plan from here on out?"

Isaac answered, "Survive. Just like always."

A small smile crossed her face at that, but quickly faded to be replaced by a grimace at the thought of Isaac being hunted down yet again. "You know," she commented, wrenching open the stairwell door to the tenth floor, "do you ever get tired of it all? Of never getting a break?"

Isaac didn't answer for a moment as they hurtled down the hallway to their apartment, but once he opened the door, he replied, "I do get tired, but it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," Ellie insisted, finally slowing to a walk as they entered, Isaac closing the door. "I'm not losing you for the world, Isaac. Living without you isn't worth it."

"I know how you feel, but the world deserves another chance. I don't want to lose you either, of course, but really, we have to think of the big picture here. I promise," Isaac added, taking one of her hands in his and holding it to his chest, "we'll stick together."

"Always," Ellie said, leaning forward for a kiss. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth as he broke the kiss, motioning for her to get a RIGsuit on.

'No matter what, we'll always have each other.'

Quickly, she pulled out a gray RIGsuit, one she had bought in case of emergency shortly after renting the apartment. She synched it to her RIG and grabbed her standard Plasma Cutter, the light and compact version, and waited for Isaac.

He was pulling on his RIGsuit, gray to match hers, and she felt a strong twinge of sympathy as he synched it up and she saw the familiar, electric-blue health bar light up. "Let's go," he said, grabbing his Plasma Cutter, and walked to the front door.

When she walked to him, she turned to their apartment, taking in the sight of the rooms that she had lived and loved Isaac in. She would leave so much behind...

But Ellie had always known in her heart that it wouldn't last, that something would always come up and the familiar feeling of paranoia and panic would constantly be with her.

"It doesn't matter," she said to Isaac upon noticing his sad expression. "I just want to be with you."

A half-smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but he nevertheless said, "We have to head to the Tech Center. Someone at my work might be able to help us out."

Ellie nodded and followed him out unquestioningly, completely trusting in his instincts. He had saved her more than once, and she would put her life in his hands if he asked her.

Once again, they sprinted through the streets, this time taking a completely different street to get to the Tech Center. The bookstore was the street over from them, running parallel, and Isaac said, "The security sure got here quick..."

The sirens and wailing alarm klaxons had surely attracted a large crowd, and Ellie was thankful that they'd left when they had.

But had Amanda gotten out?

Taking this into consideration, she asked Isaac as they rounded the corner into the Tech Center plaza, "Do you think Amanda made it out?"

Isaac glanced over at her, then back at the Tech Center, coming closer and closer with each stride they took. "I'm sure she did... She's not an idiot as far as I know."

"I guess we'll find out later," Ellie decided as they entered the building.

The clean, economically efficient lines and design of the building surprised her, although she had known that it was, after all, a Tech Center. "You worked in this building?" Ellie asked Isaac, surprised.

He led her up a flight of steps and then another, pausing to check around the corner of the wall separating them from the atrium, before replying, "Yeah. I'm going to try and contact my coworker... Hang tight for right now."

Ellie took up a protective position, leaning against the wall to cover Isaac as he attempted to speak with his friend. Luckily, the hallway that they were in was a dead end except for the stairs leading up to it, so the only places that people could enter and thus see them hiding was if they entered from the atrium or the stairs themselves, and it would be fairly easy to tell if anybody was coming up the stairs.

Behind her, Isaac muttered, "Come on, Stamford..."

Ellie fidgeted a bit, knowing that their time was limited and the clock was ticking. Soon enough, there would be a team of Unitologists headed to their house to try and apprehend them, and upon discovering that she and Isaac weren't there, they would surely come looking for him at work.

She fervently wished that there was just some way to fix all of this, to end the Necromorph threat once and for all, to destroy Unitology, to get rid of the problems plaguing Isaac and herself as well, without committing suicide.

But the real question was, would they ever find the solution?

ISAAC POV

He waited impatiently, crouched in the corner formed by the wall and floor. It was about two in the afternoon - not much work usually came in during that time of day, and Isaac knew that something was up if Stamford wasn't able to respond right away.

Becoming increasingly agitated with each passing second, painfully aware of the fact that they needed to leave as soon as possible, he muttered, "Come on, Stamford..."

After a few more moments, the transmission apparatus emitted a chirping noise that indicated the link had been formed. Isaac was surprised to see Stamford in the bathroom, locking the stall door behind him. "What did you do?" he hissed quietly.

"What do you mean? Look, I have to ask you something-"

"I've only got a few minutes - there were Unitologists everywhere here earlier, asking about you and why you didn't show up to work!"

Isaac sighed and glanced up at Ellie, who looked puzzled but didn't say anything. "It's a long story, but I need you to trust me here, man."

Stamford paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I trust you. Now what?"

"Jenna's been hunted too, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay. I don't have time to tell you everything now, but I promise I'll tell you everything later... We need to get out of the Republic right now, within thirty minutes at most. Shit really hit the fan - we're running out of time, and if Jenna's gone through the same thing I have, it's best that you both come with us."

Stamford's eyes widened with realization, and behind the hologram, Ellie opened her mouth in shock. "You... You mean they found you?" Stamford whispered.

"Yeah. They did. Are you with me or not?"

"I am, but-"

"Then let's go! If you want to save your ass and Jenna, we need to move now!"

Stamford nodded hastily and said, "Meet you down in the atrium later. I'll bring Jenna."

Isaac nodded and ended the transmission, standing up from his crouched position. Beside him, Ellie checked around the corner a final time before quietly asking, "Who's Jenna? Isaac... Is there something you're not telling me?"

Isaac glanced at her, surprised. "Uh, well..."

Her blue and green eyes were filled with confusion and suspicion, and he gave in, knowing that their marriage would never work with secrets. "I know I should have told you a while ago, but..."

Ellie stepped closer to him as he looked at the floor, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "Isaac?"

"I'm not cheating on you, if that's what you're worried about," Isaac said quietly, taking her hand in his.

"I know, I trust you, but...?"

He let the silence ring for a little bit, unsure as to how to put it in the open. He began, "I know that after the incident with Stross, you won't really trust any Marker-code test subject besides me. Am I right?" He looked up at Ellie to gauge her reaction.

She cocked her head to one side, but nevertheless murmured, "Yeah." Her face had taken on a neutral expression, something that happened often when she was slightly afraid but didn't want to show it. "What does that have to do with this... Jenna?"

"One of my coworkers, the guy named Stamford I just talked with, is her boyfriend. She's a Marker test subject, like I was, but they both escaped from the testing facility she was at. They're both refugees, but it's pretty much just collateral damage for Stamford - she's the one they really want."

Ellie said, "And... And you want them to come with us."

Isaac nodded. "Yeah. They're in danger of being discovered. I-I have to help them."

What he was really waiting for was for her to freak out and refuse to work with someone even remotely like Stross. That was to be expected - anybody who'd had an eye stabbed out was more than likely going to be paranoid for the rest of his or her life.

Ellie shut her eyes, sighing in what sounded like frustration and resignation. "You expect me to go along with someone that's a Marker test subject," she stated, emphasizing the last three words.

Isaac hesitated. "Yes."

"Isaac... You know how I felt after Stross. I-I can't work with somebody like that! Who even knows, she might go crazy with dementia when we're trying to escape and get us all killed!"

Isaac grabbed both of her wrists firmly as she attempted to pace around in her agitation. "Ellie, I know, trust me. I know how you feel. But we have to work with them, whether we like it or not. Besides," he added upon catching Ellie's furious glance, "if Stamford managed to live with her for a couple months and he didn't have problems, we might not either."

"You never know! We can't trust anybody, Isaac. Especially not after Norah."

The pain in her voice was obvious, and Isaac winced in sympathy. He was no stranger to betrayal - it was even hard for him to remember how many times, exactly, someone had deceived him for their own use. But since Ellie had only been turned on once, and this time by her own best friend, the anger and disbelief would be at its greatest.

Her voice quieter this time, she said, "How can I ever learn to trust again?"

Isaac laughed somewhat bitterly. "Take it from me; you don't really. You stay on your guard and maybe, just maybe someone will come and change all of that."

Ellie's eyes searched his, and despite their circumstances, a shiver ran down his spine. "You're the only one I can trust," she muttered.

"So, are you with me or not?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, and Isaac let go of her arms. "Doesn't look like I have a choice," she quipped, much like he had upon discovering her short-lived relationship with Norton.

"Glad you understand," he said, beginning the descent down the stairs and into the atrium. "Let's go."

Her footsteps followed him a few seconds later, and he warily ducked into the large foyer of the Tech Center as they waited for Stamford and Jenna.

"Do you see Amanda anywhere?" Ellie whispered from behind, seemingly unable to view the atrium from the wall they were hiding behind.

Isaac frowned, scanning the people milling around. There was no sign of her light brown hair, not a trace of her hazel eyes. "No... I don't."

"Shit," Ellie muttered. "It's... It's not right for us to leave her behind. She helped us, after all."

"I know. But we might have to if she doesn't show up before Stamford and Jenna do. We don't have a lot of time."

Ellie made a noise of agreement, but fell silent as they continued to wait.

A minute passed, then five. The wait was nearly unendurable; time was running out, but Isaac knew that he, Ellie, Stamford, Jenna, and Amanda if she showed up, would have the best chance of surviving if they all stuck together. And they needed the best chance they could get.

"Where is he?" Ellie hissed. "I thought we were in a hurry here."

"I don't know where he lives. Maybe it's a little farther from here."

"If he doesn't hurry up..." She let the sentence hang, but he nodded as he got what she was insinuating.

"I know."

"And Amanda?"

Isaac turned to place a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "If we have to go, we have to go. She's probably fine though."

"Hopefully," Ellie murmured, but she didn't sound convinced. "Contact Stamford again; he might be on his way."

Isaac nodded and retreated further behind the wall, opening up a RIGlink to Stamford in the hopes of reaching him.

He waited for another moment, hoping that his friend was in range, until the familiar chirp signaled that he was able to speak with him.

Stamford appeared on the hologram, looking distinctly ruffled. The scene behind him was shifting around a lot, and Isaac presumed that he was probably running around. Stamford said, "Yeah, yeah, I know, we're almost leaving!"

"What the hell took you so long? I told you, we need to-"

"I couldn't get away from work. They kept asking dumb questions and all I could say was that I needed to leave." To someone else out of Isaac's sight, Stamford said, "Jenna, we have to go!"

Isaac heard her ask, "What? Alex, what's going on?"

Stamford turned to his girlfriend and said, "I'll explain on the way. We don't have time!"

To Isaac again, he said, "Can you wait another five minutes?"

Isaac looked at Ellie, and she nodded, her face hardened with determination. "Yeah. Hurry."

"We will. See you later."

Yet again, the transmission ended, and Isaac turned to Ellie. "So now, we wait, I guess."

She sighed and leaned against the wall, looking at the ceiling. "Isaac, what's your plan? And don't give me any bullshit."

"I don't know," he muttered, taking her hand again, feeling her thin fingers thread through his. "Maybe just stay away from it all until we find a permanent solution."

"Is there one?" Ellie wondered.

"There better be," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not hiding all my life. There's no way I'm running away from all my problems again."

"But what if it's more trouble than it's worth?" Ellie persisted. "I mean, I asked you once, after you went through it more times than the average person, to do it all again, and I almost lost you... I'm not doing that again."

He smirked, and she smacked him lightly when she saw the expression on his face. "I'm serious," she snapped. "I won't, not again. That was fucking awful."

"I know," he said, almost chuckling. "But... I just have to. For Earth. The Earth deserves another chance, don't you think?"

Ellie considered another chance, then shrugged. "Between you and me, if Unitology and selfish people is all we're capable of producing, then no. But if there were more people like you..." She smiled and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Then the world is worth saving."

A grin spread across his face at that, and he muttered, "Talk about a self-esteem booster."

"Oh, shut up, you," she laughed.

They laid in silence for a minute, simply enjoying the feeling of being with one another. It was a relief, just to be able to take his mind off of the more pressing matter of their survival.

However, Isaac was forced to think about it yet again when he contemplated the consequences of trying to send Ellie away. He knew in his heart that Ellie would be hurt more by his attempting to send her away, even if it was for her own good, than she would be at his side in the midst of all the danger, but the protective side of him snarled angrily at the thought of her in potential danger.

'But Ellie's tough,' he argued with himself. 'She would be completely fine with everything, no matter what. If she loves me, she'll keep herself alive.'

It was interesting to see how his interests had changed within the span of his time in the Sprawl and now - before Tau Volantis, he sure as hell would have been vouching for her to stay and be safer than she would be around him.

His protective side insisted, 'You just don't endanger the ones you love. How would you feel if you lost her? Wouldn't you want to know that she's safe and well?'

Isaac furrowed his brow. 'Ellie would hate me if I sent her away just to keep her safe. Norton made that mistake and bugged the crap out of her.'

'It doesn't matter,' the protective part retorted. 'Keep her safe. That's what has to happen, no matter what.'

He was jolted from his thoughts when Ellie noted, "Are you having a mental mind battle or something?"

"Pretty much."

"What about?"

He said, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Tell me," Ellie insisted.

He opened his mouth, about to tell her, then thought better of it. "No, you'll hurt me."

"I'll hurt you if you don't tell me! No secrets, right?"

"Argh, fine. Uh, what if I'm putting you in unnecessary danger just from having you come with me?"

Ellie sighed and slumped back against the wall. "That's what you're worried about?"

"... Yeah."

"Isaac, I've said it a thousand times, and I'll say it again: I'm not going anywhere without you. We are together, for better or for worse!"

"I know, I know, but I just... I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't. Now stop worrying."

"That's not likely," Isaac sighed in response.

Ellie's fingers tightened around his unexpectedly, and he looked at her in surprise.

"I know you worry," she whispered. "But really, there's no need to. I'm fine, and I'll be fine as long as you don't do anything stupid. Like leaving me behind."

Isaac smiled. "That's not likely either. My life kind of revolves around protecting you, you know."

Ellie nodded resignedly. Suddenly, her eyes flicked to something beyond him and she said, "I think Stamford and Jenna are here."

Isaac twisted to see them waiting uncertainly in one corner of the atrium, and he stood. "Let's go."

They waited for a second to make sure nobody was heading toward them or even looking their way, and then they moved at a quick pace toward the couple, keeping their heads down. Once Isaac was close enough, he hissed, "Stamford!"

Stamford jumped and turned around, looking extremely uneasy. Upon recognizing him, he said, "Isaac! What's going on?"

"The Unitologists have found us. It seems that the Tau Volantis incident awakened the other Moons, and they said they're coming for Earth. We're running out of time!"

Stamford and Jenna looked utterly bemused when he mentioned the Moons, but nevertheless nodded. "I'll explain it to you later," Isaac muttered. "But do either of you know where we can go while we try to figure this out?"

"I do."

The voice came from behind them, and Isaac spun around to see Amanda, wearing a protective RIGsuit and carrying a Pulse Rifle.

"Amanda?" Ellie asked, surprised. "How... I thought you didn't make it!"

Amanda shrugged, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I was halfway to my apartment when they caught me for questioning. I convinced them that I had nothing to do with it and then they let me go. It took me a bit longer than usual, due to the huge crowds swarming the store."

"Glad you made it," Isaac said. "Now, I don't have enough time right this second to explain, but I promise I will later. Where's this safe place we can hide?"

"Follow me," Amanda answered. Isaac looked at Ellie, who said, "It's our best chance. What have we got to lose?"

He grimaced and motioned for everyone to follow her.

Once they were outside in the sunlight, Amanda said, "We have to get to the landing strip and transport station. If we're able to do what I have in mind, we're going to need a sturdy shuttle."

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked.

Amanda faced them, and Isaac was somewhat unnerved by the knowing glint in her eyes. "Somewhere we can stop the Necromorph invasion once and for all," she replied.

"And where would that be?" Isaac said, his mind going to a yellow alert.

"Well, let's just say it's somewhere there's a ton of Markers and Unitologists."

"What?! Why the fuck would we be going there?"

"Because you know how to stop them, Isaac. Only you do. And the first step to stopping this all is heading back to the New Horizons lunar colony."

**Yay! Plot development!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter - for some reason I feel like it wasn't up to its usual standard. **

**Sorry for the late update as well; I had a ton of tests. Ugh. **

**Review!**


	11. We Have Plans and Problems

**I know the last chapter caused some confusion, but hopefully this chapter will clear some things up. **

**I've actually had to go and research some of the Dead Space mythology to make sure I'm on the right track... I sincerely hope it was all worth it in the end. **

ISAAC POV

He was completely thrown by the very idea of returning back to the colony that was overrun by Necromorphs, and the fact that he was actually on the first step to ending it. The notion of even going to stop it all had seemed unreal, just a possibility that he and Ellie had always talked about but never actually took action on.

But here he was, on a shuttle that had its course set for the lunar colony that he'd spent some time on, before the Circle had come and unleashed the Marker. They were all heading towards a colony that was presumably flourishing with the necrotic creatures, all of which he had hoped to never see again within his lifetime.

Frowning, Isaac voiced his opinion to Amanda, watching the stars go by as they approached. "Amanda, this doesn't make sense."

"What?"

"This whole thing," he answered, gesturing to himself, Stamford and Jenna in the back, and Ellie as she piloted the shuttle. "Why go there? Why are we heading to a colony that's overrun by Necromorphs? There's no point in that. We'll only be risking our lives."

Amanda sighed and settled herself more comfortably in her passenger seat. "As I'm sure you know, there was a Marker testing lab there."

"But why that one? It's not even the first - there are tons of them everywhere. We don't exactly need to go there."

Amanda eyed him peculiarly, and Isaac said defensively, "What? Could you please explain so we're not just going in blind?"

"I think you need to know anyways," she speculated, letting her eyes drift around the shuttle cabin. "You already know that I'm the great-granddaughter of Michael Altman."

"Uh, yeah."

"But I rejected Unitology because I believed that it didn't actually hold all of the answers, that becoming a Necromorph was not the solution to everything. It turns out that a lot of people within the Church shared my dislike for the religion, even though they were involved with it too."

"But why join if they didn't believe in it?"

"Maybe their family members pushed them to do it. You never know."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Isaac conceded. "So, if you disliked it so much, why didn't you just leave?"

"I wanted to end Unitology. Even though there was a distinct possibility that I wouldn't have a chance to end it myself, within this lifetime, I decided to at least get an organization going that would have a chance at bringing it all down."

Isaac nodded in appreciation of her defiance to the popular belief. "How did you get it all started?"

"I asked people what they thought of the whole thing, and most of them agreed with my idea. They thought it was best to get rid of it before it changed everyone and it would have been too late to stop the spread of influence."

"What's the organization doing now?"

"Some of us have simply stayed within the Church to relay important developments and new information to us. Others, like me, have taken a more active approach in trying to end the threat."

"How long has this... society, I guess, been around for?" Ellie called from the pilot's seat.

"About ten years," Amanda answered. "The Dissenters couldn't do much because there wasn't much information we could go off of."

"The Dissenters?" Isaac asked, his voice skeptical.

"We named the organization that because we are the opposite of Unitology," Amanda explained. "We believe in having independent thoughts as well as bodies, which is the opposite of what Unitologists want."

"But what are we doing, heading there?" Stamford piped up from the back, apparently having been listening to the whole thing. "Like Isaac said, there's really nothing we can do there except for putting ourselves in danger."

"I was getting to that. One of the Dissenters was working in the Marker testing lab to try and find information, besides what we know about how the Marker makes Necromorphs."

"I thought that testing lab was supposed to explore the energy the Marker could give us," Ellie remarked.

"Well, it was, but our agent Knowles was secretly testing it to see where it came from."

"Wasn't it just a Red Marker?"

"Yes, but she was able to make some important discoveries. The code written on the Marker, as you know, is the genetic code that creates the Necromorph contagion. You all know how the Marker works."

Isaac nodded, and Stamford muttered, "Yeah, we do. Right, Jenna?"

"Yeah."

Amanda continued, "We also already know that the Red Markers are simply reverse-engineered copies of the original Black Markers, which come from unknown sources."

"But where do those come from?" Jenna wondered. "They have to come here somehow..."

"Exactly. Recently, Knowles discovered that the Black Markers are actually sent to planets with life on them. The Black Marker begins to manipulate and provide intelligence to the organisms around it, and soon, enough, they evolve into intelligent beings capable of independent thought. Throughout the entire period of evolution, the Black Marker remains hidden, but sends messages that result in the intelligent species overpopulating the planet and running out of available resources. After all of that has occurred, the Black Marker allows itself to be found, which leads to the species testing it and discovering that it has a seemingly limitless supply of energy that could aid the species in its survival. The species is then compelled to create more Red Markers, as you very well know, which unleashes enough Necromorph attacks for the final stage to begin, which is Convergence. The Black Marker begins to levitate and rotate, sending the signal to all of the Red Markers to begin Convergence. All of the bodies are pulled into the sky to form a Brethren Moon, like the one you killed at Tau Volantis. The new Moon is then able to communicate with all of the other Moons in the network, and it's highly likely that the purpose of sending a Black Marker to a new planet is to expand the network and spread them across the universe."

There was a deafening silence as all of them absorbed the new information, completely at a loss for words as to how it had all occurred. Utterly horrified, Isaac thought back to when he had at some point wondered how the hell it had all happened, and how on Earth the invasion was even supposed to stop.

And now, the answer was in front of him.

'If there's that many Brethren Moons... Then that means all of them had come from some planet! All of these disgusting things have more or less extinguished an entire species!'

Ellie was the first to speak. "What the fuck?!"

Amanda said quietly, "Yeah. I felt the same way when I heard about it."

"How are we supposed to stop them all?" Isaac snapped, still in shock. "I almost died doing it, and that was just one! The universe is huge. There could be millions out there and we wouldn't even know it! How the hell can we kill all of them?"

"And there was only one Machine..." Ellie said, her voice trembling a little. "God, I don't know what we'll do!"

Jenna spoke up, her voice high with strain. "Why are we going to the testing lab if we already know?"

"Before Danik unleashed the Marker, Knowles contacted us, saying she'd found something extremely vital to the extinction of the Brethren Moons. But the facility was overrun before she could tell us what it was, and her last words to us were that she'd made a copy of the intel and it was absolutely necessary for us to come and get it."

"And she discovered all this just from the Red Marker?"

"... Yes, I suppose."

"Is that even possible?" Stamford queried. "I thought that the Marker only had the genetic code for the infestation recombinant gene. It doesn't seem very probable that she figured out how the Black ones work just from the Red Marker. The lab one is not even a Black Marker, just a Red one."

Amanda pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. "Knowles didn't say why, but I'll bet she explained it in the intel," she murmured.

Isaac felt drained as he realized the implications of what she was saying. "So, we have to go in, fight our way through a hell of a lot of those undead bastards, and then retrieve the intel?"

"Pretty much," Amanda replied.

Ellie turned around in the pilot's seat and cast him a meaningful glance, and Isaac grumbled, "Just like old times."

"We have to," Ellie reminded him. "I know you're damn tired of it all, but it means a better life for everyone, even people who aren't involved."

"I know, but still..."

They lapsed into silence, mostly everyone staring out the window. Isaac tried not to think about the grueling and gruesome task ahead of him - he'd had enough for a lifetime, but of course his work still wasn't done.

Unexpectedly, Jenna said, "You know what this means, right?"

"That we're going to have to screw with those stupid Necromorphs again?" Stamford deadpanned.

"No," she retorted, and Isaac found himself listening to them, as tired as he was. "It means that, if we found a Black Marker on Earth, all of us were formed and guided into civilization only to be turned into Necromorphs."

Another shocked silence fell over the shuttle as they all, once again, digested the new information. Isaac closed his eyes and hissed quietly, leaning back against the seat in an attempt to prevent the burden of all the knowledge from crushing him. 'I'm not sure how much more I can take,' he thought despairingly. He screwed his eyes shut even tighter as he got a mental image of the Black Marker on Tau Volantis rising into the air, spinning for a few moments before suddenly exploding into a new Moon.

In the front, Ellie spoke up. "Oh, my God. Oh my God!"

"That pretty much just summed it up," Stamford said weakly.

"Fuck," Isaac muttered. "I... Let's just not talk about this until we get there, okay? It's almost too much to handle."

"I feel you," Stamford said emphatically.

It seemed that none of them could believe that they all owed their existence to the Black Marker, and whatever disgusting thing had created it. Isaac was having a hard time not exploding from the pressure of knowing, and he felt the dull throbbing of a tension headache beginning in his skull.

Humans had been brought about by the Marker, and they would slowly be destroyed by it if it wasn't stopped. According to his wife's former best friend, they had less than a month to ensure that Earth would have another chance.

Isaac snorted, thinking about it for another moment. 'Some people say they can bring down what they create. That's true for us now.'

His eyes drifted to the black expanse of space, dotted with bright little pinpricks of light that were far-away stars. Ordinarily, the sight would have been relaxing and even beautiful, but Isaac now could not find any appreciation for the view, not even in the deepest reaches of his body.

No, he was repulsed by the idea that entire civilizations had been decimated and annihilated from the sick, twisted nightmares that were the Necromorphs. A glance out the window would never fail to remind him that the Brethren Moons were out there, they were damn dangerous, and they were hungry.

A sharp pain hit his temple and he winced as the phrase 'Make us whole' crossed his mind.

He would never truly get away from it all, would he? It seemed highly unlikely that he would have even just a bit of rest for once.

He would always have to go and save the world.

Irritated with himself for always having to think about exactly what he wanted to avoid touching bases with, Isaac shifted his gaze from the stars to the woman sitting in the cockpit, piloting the shuttle.

He reflected on how brave Ellie was and how stubborn she was at times, how open her eyes were to the truth and the right decision. He admired the fearless way she handled herself and bolstered the courage of others, refusing to give up even when it seemed that there was nothing to go on with. He thought about how willing she was to sacrifice herself for the greater good, and how surprisingly un-bitter she was about the whole ordeal.

'It's worth giving up almost everything to save people like her...'

In the end, Isaac realized, it was all simply a matter of who you loved and wanted to protect. That was the driving force behind everything - it was the reason he'd done what he did; it explained his actions and why he sent Ellie away on a gunship not once, but twice.

He wanted to protect her, but of course they were heading towards more danger.

'I'll just have to watch her back, I guess. Nothing bad's going to happen to her, not around me.'

ELLIE POV

She wanted to say something, to stop the universe in its chaotic spiraling path around her from taking away everything that she knew. How much could one person handle before everything got to be too much and a stable form of sanity was never possible again?

She was frustrated with knowing that they had been wrong all along about the beginnings of the human race, but she didn't know who to be frustrated with. Certainly not Isaac, definitely not the people who had instigated the theory of evolution...

There wasn't really anybody to blame.

Ellie had never wanted to be a product of the Marker, but it turned out that every single man, woman, and child had been affected by the alien artifact no matter what. There was no getting around it - they had all come into the world only to be used for another creature's dastardly purposes.

She pressed her lips together and attempted to focus on the task at hand, getting them to the New Horizons colony in one piece being her first priority, but she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that everybody was simply a pawn in the larger-than-life game of the Moons.

She now knew why they, the human race, had been brought into existence, and it was only for them to be transformed into the walking dead.

'Well, fuck.'

Her hand tightened on the controls as she imagined the Black Marker landing on the Earth, with the meteor that had forced all of the prehistoric beings into extinction, then the human race evolving like a carefully nurtured plant.

A plant that was only made to serve the uses of an extraterrestrial, power-hungry being.

But here it was, another chance to stop the infestation from destroying the lives of other species, and she sure as hell was going to take the opportunity.

A quick glance at the back of the cabin confirmed that pretty much everyone, Amanda included, was still suffering from the shock of realization. Amanda, although she'd had some previous knowledge about the Black Marker, was slumped against the wall next to her bench, her eyes closed and her fists clenched as she clearly tried to keep it under control. In the back, Jenna (how her stomach clenched in paranoia when she saw the Marker subject) was curled up next to Stamford, both with blank expressions on their faces and their eyes wide. And Isaac had his back pressed to the back of his passenger chair, his eyes screwed shut and his fingertips pressed to his temples.

Ellie's heart twisted with pity for her husband, the knowledge of what he had gone through tugging at her very soul. It would've been harsh for him to know that he was heading back into danger just when he'd wanted to get away from it all, and on top of that, having been created from the thing he hated most.

Isaac was tough, though, Ellie reminded herself. If he could see the solution and if he knew what the right choice was, he would make it, regardless of his personal regrets or dislikes.

It was one of the reasons she loved him. He was so selfless and brave - always willing to give himself up to ensure the survival of Earth and the species inhabiting it.

Amanda interrupted her thoughts when she asked, "Hey, Ellie, how much longer?"

Ellie looked at the navigation panel and answered, "About another hour. The Shockdrive took some time off, but we still have a ways to go."

Amanda nodded and let her head rest against the wall again. "Take a break. I think the autopilot should be enough to get us there alone."

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked dubiously. "I mean, I dunno..."

"Just rest," Isaac broke in. "You'll need it when we get there."

Reluctantly, Ellie hit the autopilot button and waited for a moment to be sure that it was up and working. When she affirmed that they were still on course, she unbuckled herself from her flight seat and stretched, raising her arms overhead.

She'd been on a constant alert ever since they'd jacked the shuttle from the landing terminal. After a few close calls and a very, gut-wrenching narrow escape, all of them had managed to get out of the United European Republic in one piece. The only hitch was that their shuttle was probably being monitored by the terminal and by whatever poor schmuck owned it, but as soon as they had entered Shockspace and de-shocked to as close to the colony as was necessary, the worry had disappeared due to the fact that Isaac had checked for a Shockbeacon locator and found nothing.

In essence, they were practically invisible. Unless the Unitologists had sent a shuttle to follow them immediately after their departure and had also set a Shockbeacon on them, the chance of them being tracked down was very unlikely.

Ellie relaxed in the pilot seat for a moment more, then climbed out and walked to the back of the cabin where Isaac was sitting. He was resting his elbows on his knees and had his head in his hands, his fingers pressed against his temples.

"Headache?" Ellie asked softly, kneeling beside him, and he looked up. "Yeah," he muttered.

She placed her hand on the back of his neck, massaging it gently, and he whispered, "I kind of hoped I wouldn't have to go through this again."

"I hoped we wouldn't have to either," she whispered back.

"It's too bad we have to," Isaac said.

"But we have another chance to end it," Ellie reminded him, and he sighed. "I know how you feel," she amended quickly, "but still..."

"I've chased that dream three times... Three, Ellie," Isaac said tiredly, his blue eyes boring into hers. "I don't know how much more I can take. What if this isn't the solution? What if we're just heading in blind and all it's going to do is put us in more danger?" His voice, which had been steadily rising in volume, dropped to a quieter pitch. "And I don't - I don't want to lose you, after everything we've been through."

Ellie could feel her expression softening as she took in his quiet voice, the fear and anguish in his blue eyes, and she leaned closer to press her lips to his forehead in a comforting gesture.

It was obvious how afraid he was to lose her, and how deeply affected he was by his lack of connections to anybody on the living earth other than her. Anybody who had loved and lost like he had would surely be afraid to even have a remote possibility of that happening again.

With as much sincerity as she could muster, Ellie looked into his eyes and said fiercely, "You won't lose me. Just like I won't lose you - we'll watch each other's backs, right?"

Isaac nodded, and Ellie was relieved to see the fear and anguish in his eyes disappear. "And don't forget," she reminded him, "I've lost everyone too. I won't let you go, now."

A half-smile pulled up the corners of Isaac's mouth, and he said, "Well, with you to watch my back, I don't think I have to worry."

Ellie laughed, pleased that she'd managed to make him feel better. "You'd better have mine, too, you bastard."

He held his hands up in surrender and replied, "Calm down, of course I will!"

Ellie leaned into his body as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, simply enjoying the feel of being with him and finally pushing the matter of the Necromorphs to the back of her mind.

It didn't matter that they were heading into danger once again. Ellie had expected it, after all - it was only a matter of being associated with a wanted fugitive. She could give a damn about what being with him meant. All that mattered to her was that he was safe, alive, and as happy as he could be in his situation.

Overcome with a glowing sense of love, Ellie whispered to him softly, "I love you. You know that, right?"

Isaac seemed surprised to hear her just come out with that, but he replied, "I know. And I love you too."

After a little while in which not much happened except for close comfort from Isaac, she reluctantly stood and headed back to the pilot's seat, buckling herself in again as she checked out the navigation systems panel. "We got about forty minutes left, Amanda," she called back.

"Fine," Amanda replied. "Tell me when we get to about half an hour away. We need to discuss something."

"Why not just talk about it now?" Ellie asked.

"If you don't mind... I'll come up and talk to you about it."

"Sounds good," Ellie said, staring out towards the moon as it approached. She couldn't help but think of it as a possible Brethren Moon - the Tau Volantis incident had ensured she'd be paranoid for life.

Amanda took a seat in the copilot chair next to her, and Ellie looked at her expectantly. "What is it?"

Amanda glanced back at Isaac, who was staring vacantly down at the floor of the shuttle, and whispered, "I want to know what your plan is after this."

Startled by the topic, Ellie remained silent for a moment before replying. "I don't know," she finally answered. "We haven't thought that far ahead yet - out plan was to basically survive this trip and then decide afterwards."

Amanda nodded. "I expected as much. But... Do you think there's even a remote chance that you will become part of the Dissenters and continue to work with them afterwards?"

Ellie stared evenly into her friend's eyes, trying to dissect the truth behind her blue irises. When she found nothing but a calm interest, she stalled, "Do you really want to know?"

Amanda's eyes flashed briefly with irritation. "I don't just want to know. I need to know. We may need Isaac to stop all of this."

Ellie's hand involuntarily clenched into a fist, and she said, keeping her voice low, "Isaac will decide what he wants to - I'll go wherever he goes. If he doesn't want to be a part of your cult, I won't try and change his mind. You shouldn't either. Do you know what it's like, being used by other people, for other people? Do you know what it feels like to risk your life over and over for people that don't give a damn about you? For the past four years, he's been an expendable. He's been tested on, he's been sent to places on crazy-ass missions, he's had more near-death experiences than all of us combined. If he wants to have a fucking normal life for once, I won't stop him from having that."

Amanda's eyes were practically chips of blue ice. "Isaac would have done the world a favor, Ellie. Try and understand that."

"I understand more than you think I do," Ellie hissed. "He's done the world a lot of favors, but not once has it even shown him gratitude. He's too selfless, Amanda. I know that he would want to do the right thing, but sometimes, you have to put yourself first."

Abruptly, Amanda stood, anger blazing in her eyes. "The world needs saving, Ellie. Isaac can save us all."

"Why, just because we're all too weak to?" Ellie retorted. "He's his own person, perfectly capable of making his own decisions. You can't control him because you don't have the right to make him do anything."

The Dissenters' founder turned her back to Ellie and stalked back to her seat, frustration visible in every step. "Don't forget to tell us when we're half an hour away."

"Yeah, sure," Ellie muttered. As she turned back to the controls, she locked eyes with Isaac. He looked at her, tipping his head questioningly, but she shook her head and remained in the pilot's seat.

It was interesting how her interests had changed over time, Ellie mused. Before Tau Volantis, she would have asked him to go and save the human race, but now, she didn't even want him to think about risking his life.

'Love changes everything, I suppose. For the better.'

She hated to see him in danger. And joining the Dissenters' cause would most certainly be putting him in danger.

ISAAC POV

He was surprised to see Amanda sitting down with a huff, her blue eyes just about shooting darts. She stared at him for a moment, then smirked sardonically and snorted, looking away as she did so.

He knew something had gone on up there, in the cockpit with Ellie, although he couldn't hear it. Ellie's quiet whispers and her clenched jaw showed how irritated she was, and even though he wasn't very familiar with Amanda, he knew people enough to know that she was pissed off.

Closing his eyes for the umpteenth time, he let his head rest against the chair back, internally growling at all of the drama.

It was the last thing he needed - they would all have to be completely focused on their task, and arguing amongst themselves wouldn't help them get anywhere.

Concentrating and forcing the problem to the back of his mind, he summoned up memories of all the time he had spent with Ellie. It was usually something he did when he was stressed out, and needed to relax.

This time, he was not disappointed. A hand on his shoulder shook him back to consciousness, and he realized he'd fallen asleep when his eyes slowly focused in on Ellie's gentle face. "We're ten minutes away," she murmured quietly. "Amanda wants to fill us in."

Isaac nodded blearily and pushed himself upright, watching as Amanda motioned for Stamford and Jenna to join them. Once they were all seated close to each other and with Ellie able to hear, Amanda said, "We need to have a plan for when we get there. We can't just go running blind."

Stamford said, "I thought we were just supposed to get to the testing lab."

"Well, yes, but it's very likely that we'll have to land the shuttle farther away from the testing lab because the infection has overtaken the colony. I'm sending the coordinates of the lab to your RIGs right now."

Isaac looked at the coordinate info she'd given him and nodded. "Good plan. And we should probably synch our RIGs with the shuttle just for safety."

Everyone nodded, including Ellie, and quickly synched their RIGs to the shuttle computer. Once they were all connected, Amanda said, "If you get separated from everyone, just keep heading toward the facility. We'll all meet up eventually and continue from there. Got it?"

"Sure."

"Get your weapons together," Ellie called back to them. "We're coming in hot."

Isaac stood and cautiously made his way to the front, leaning next to her as he asked, "Where are we landing?"

"Top of a building, about three miles from the lab. With luck, there won't be any Necromorphs around that area."

"How hard of a time will we have getting out?"

Ellie shrugged. "It depends. We'll be fine - I got your back."

Isaac smiled. "Yeah, I got yours too."

He went back to retrieve their weapons, sitting in the copilot seat as they neared the colony.

Soon enough, he was able to see each individual building and even the Necromorphs moving inside and on the streets, as well as the Marker glowing like a beacon in the heart of the colony.

Ellie landed the shuttle on top of one of the taller buildings on the fringe of the area, and Isaac tensed as he recalled the undead creatures. 'Cut off their limbs, don't hit the main body.'

When the shuttle was completely still, everyone stood and gripped their weapons. Isaac's heart was hammering in his chest as he sent the impulse to seal the visor around his head, and as it closed up, he glanced at Ellie and mouthed "I'll keep you safe."

She nodded and sent her own visor up, and Isaac was mildly surprised to see that her visor lighting glowed the same light blue as his. He could barely see her eyes through the top slit, but knew that she was watching him.

"Let's go," Amanda said, and they walked out of the shuttle, into the dim light of the Necromorph-infested lunar colony.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**As always, review!**


	12. Extortionate Allies, Infested Colonies

**I thought when I first started this story, I wouldn't put in a Necromorph outbreak. I thought a lot of things, but I guess I'm changing all that for the love of Isaac and Ellie. **

**Thanks for all the support and reviews, you guys. You are amazing. **

**You know what else is amazing? My love for Isaac and Ellie, ha-ha. And they themselves are really badass and fantastic too. **

**Moving on... **

ELLIE POV

Her breath came unevenly, some in short gasps, others in long inhales. Her heart pounded erratically against her rib cage, and she could hear the heart monitor of her RIGsuit slowing and quickening with the rapidly paced beeps. Her limbs shook with the tremors of fear and alertness, and her innards felt like they were made of water.

She'd forgotten what it felt like to be afraid of nearly everything around her, to jump at every single noise and flinch at every shadow that moved. She had forgotten what the smell of death and blood and mutated corpses was like.

She'd forgotten the feeling of pure survival.

Maybe she'd gotten too complacent, maybe she'd have to get used to it as messed up as that was, but all that mattered was that she stay alive and protect Isaac as he was protecting her.

Immediately after they had all exited the shuttle and descended to the street level of the building, they had all been attacked by the Necromorphs. In the frenzy, as Amanda had seemingly predicted, they had gotten separated, with Jenna and Stamford in a different section of the colony and Amanda, Isaac, and herself in another.

The amount of Necromorphs around them had been astounding; as soon as Ellie had dispatched one, another had come to take its place. She was surprised to find that Jenna, despite only having one arm to aim and shoot with, was actually quite effective in killing the undead.

But that didn't make Ellie any less wary of her than she already was. It was dangerous to have a Marker test subject around - a potential loose cannon that could end up destroying them all, doing damage like Stross had. She was almost glad that they had been separated, just to be away from someone that could put all their lives at risk, but then again, they all needed to stick together to survive.

'Just keep going, one step at a time.'

A noise behind her made her spin and suck in a breath, aiming her plasma cutter at whatever had made it. Isaac held up his hands in surrender as he stepped onto the sidewalk from the street. "Don't worry, it's just me."

Ellie lowered the gun and sighed, the confinement of her visor making the rush of air sound mechanical and tinny. "Sorry," she muttered. "I'm just... On edge."

He chuckled humorlessly and walked closer. "Don't worry," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "We'll be fine."

"I know," Ellie mumbled, gripping him tightly. "It's just... I forgot what it's like to be scared every second. This is the only period of peace and quiet we've had since arrival, which was about an hour ago."

"How did we do it on the Sprawl?" Isaac mused. "We never really got any breaks back then..."

"I don't know. I just want to get to that damn lab."

"Me too," Isaac murmured, then checked his GPS. "Only two and a half miles to go."

"Then we should get going," Ellie said, looking up into Isaac's visor, just able to see his eyes behind the turquoise glow. He sighed ruefully and released his hold on her, and she reluctantly turned to Amanda, who had been sitting on the ground of the street they were taking refuge in. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Amanda replied, her voice still cold. "Let's go."

Isaac turned to Ellie as the older woman stalked off, clearly surprised. "She's still mad? I thought she would've stopped being pissed what with the issue of having to survive Necromorphs."

"I don't know anymore," Ellie told him, reloading her gun. "We just need to get to the damn lab."

"I'm going to try and contact Stamford," Isaac said quietly as he opened up a link. "Maybe we can find out where they are. I don't want to lose them."

"Good idea," Ellie commented. "I'll ask Amanda to wait."

However, when Ellie asked, Amanda snapped, "We need to keep going. We can't waste any more time waiting for them. Like I said earlier, they'll meet up with us eventually. It's not our problem if they don't find us."

Ellie stood shocked for a moment, then hardened her voice with anger. "Aren't we all in this together? It won't do us any good to leave them for dead."

Amanda straightened up, her eyes like steel and her eyebrows in an angry V. "If you don't see the reality behind all of this soon, you'll be leaving the human race for dead, Ellie. Now let's go."

Ellie sighed, exasperated, and turned to motion Isaac to follow them. He jogged to catch up to them as they moved to the building corner and hung back. Once they were all in a safe position, Isaac sheltered next to her and muttered, "What the hell was that about?"

"I'll tell you once we're not fighting for our lives," Ellie said to him. "Right now, I guess, we just need to concentrate on getting there."

Isaac nodded and shifted his gun. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ellie muttered, and took a deep breath.

The growling around the corner exploded into fearsome screeches and howls as they threw themselves around the corner, the Necromorphs lingering there having picked up on the fact that there were still human survivors around. Ellie's eyesight sharpened as she picked out a Waster coming towards her, the axes in its mangled hands raised threateningly and a menacing glow in its yellow eyes. She aimed and fired, taking off the Waster's upper half and decimating the three tentacles that shot out of its waist. One of the standard Slashers followed, which she quickly took the arms and legs off of, and a smaller-sized Leaper that ended up in chunks on the ground.

Off to the side, she could hear Amanda snarling under her breath as she took apart the monsters with her pulse rifle, and Isaac hissing as he reloaded his own plasma cutter. The disgusting squelching noise of the Necromorphs as they were destroyed made her stomach churn, but Ellie knew she had to keep going. It was a matter of them or her, and she was definitely going to choose herself.

Breathing heavily as the onslaught finally slowed, she raised her right foot and slammed it down hard on the corpse of a Slasher, swearing loudly as she did so. "Motherfucker," she spat, retrieving the small, bloodied medpack that emerged from its side among the bits and pieces of decaying flesh.

A laugh from behind her made her start and spin around yet again, but Isaac only laughed again. "I see you've picked up on the curb stomping," he quipped, crouching to grab a rack of plasma cutter ammo.

Ellie just shrugged, although a half smile was forming on her lips. "Come on," she said, extending a hand. "We need to keep moving."

He took her hand, and the two battled through more hordes of Necromorphs as they fought to get to the test lab, Amanda by their side.

STAMFORD POV

His heart was pounding fit to burst as he guarded Jenna's back, keeping the Necromorphs at bay as they swarmed around them. His hands were shaking, and a cold sweat had formed on his forehead as his stomach churned and squeezed with pure fear.

They had gotten separated after the initial assault of the reanimated corpses, and he and Jenna had gotten backed into a different alley as they fought to stay alive. Jenna's constant gasps and cries of horror only served to remind him that both of them didn't exactly have much experience with the undead fuckers, and his own yells of exertion as he swung his rivet gun to ward off the creatures only sent his heart thumping harder. His eyes flicked from monster to monster, his lungs burned with the effort of sending oxygen to his limbs. His body ached under the suit's protective covering where he'd gotten nailed by a couple of blows - they weren't too serious, but they hurt like a bitch.

It all came from fear and the desperation to stay alive, and Stamford had never known that it could affect him like that.

Jenna herself had been horrified upon first catching a glimpse of the Necromorphs. Although she had been a Marker test subject, she had never seen them in person or even had to fight them at some point, casting light upon the fact that they had no knowledge on how to kill them.

'Well, that makes two of us.'

Thankfully, Isaac had been able to give them some tips such as aiming for the limbs rather than the main body. Their vital organs weren't useful in hampering them on their course of destruction, since they had been twisted and formed into new beings that didn't require a beating heart or working lungs.

As Stamford shot the arm off of a Leaper, he shouted to Jenna, "We have to keep moving - we can't let them corner us like this!"

"I know!" Jenna yelled back, grunting as she hastily replaced the plasma cartridge in her line gun. "We need to - oh, shit! - move to a different street!"

Grimly, Stamford muttered, "How?"

Jenna moved to his side as she began glancing around the street, clearly looking for a possible exit. "Cover me," she whispered, and Stamford gritted his teeth as he stepped forward to shield her, the Necromorphs' attention now completely focused on him. He winced as an extremely slimy-looking creature began gimping towards him, its deformed, gaping face like something from a horror flick he'd once watched on the holovid.

The Puker emitted a ghastly moaning noise and spewed a fountain of corrosive acid that slammed into Stamford, making him stagger. He gazed in horror down at the acid as it burned at his protective suit, bubbling and sizzling loudly.

The Puker growled again, but before it could launch another attack, Stamford quickly dismembered it by shooting off its arms and a leg, rendering it immobile. The mutated body dissolved into a puddle of acid, and Stamford glanced back to Jenna after making sure he wasn't in immediate danger. "Jenna...?!"

"One second!" Jenna yelled back, her voice oddly muted. Stamford groaned and began backing up to where she had disappeared into a small building entryway, firing at the Necromorphs that continued to slink toward him.

"Where the hell are you?" he shouted, letting out a hiss of disgust at the spurt of blood that erupted out of a Twitcher and sprayed his suit.

"I'm in the building - if we could get inside, we might be able to escape them for a little."

"Good plan," he remarked, blowing off the head of a Slasher and avoiding its flailing arms as it attempted to find him without eyes. "Tell me when!"

"On three!" Jenna said loudly, emerging from the building as she helped him fend off the beasts. "One-"

Stamford backed up to the door, nearly ready to open it and make a quick escape, feeling Jenna at his side.

"Two!"

He let out a cry of pain as a Leaper tail slammed into him, the culprit hissing at him as it lingered on the ground, but quickly pumped several rivets into the lashing body part, effectively severing the appendage.

"Three!"

Stamford turned and slammed his palm into the door, screaming "Cover me!" as he waited for it to open.

Jenna screeched behind him and he heard the sickening crunch of her gun smashing into some unknown creature, accompanied by the injured thing moaning eerily. "Damn it! Is that door open yet?"

"Almost!" Stamford said, impatiently waiting for the unusually slow door. Precious seconds were ticking by, and he cast a glance back at the crowd behind them that swarmed ever closer. "Come on, let's go!"

They scrambled through the door, leaving the Necromorphs behind as Stamford wrenched open the control panel on the wall and ripped out several wires, locking the monsters out as the door slammed shut and displayed the orange lock sign.

His heart thumping painfully, Stamford slumped against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief as he surveyed their surroundings. The building was dark, the lights most likely malfunctioning due to the outbreak, and as far as he could tell, there weren't any Necromorphs in residence.

Well, he couldn't hear them anyways.

Jenna set down her gun and curled up next to Stamford, her breath coming in pants. "Fuck," she gasped. "I didn't know those things could be so aggressive."

He grunted in agreement, groaning as the shock wore off and his bruises and cuts began to inflict some pain on him. Glancing over at her, the darkness around them illuminated by the orange glow from Jenna's visor as well as his own, he asked, "How're you holding up?"

Jenna chuckled humorlessly and said, "I've been way better."

"Same." Stamford took another look around the room, and spotted some shelves that appeared to have small glowing lights, orange and blue, on them. He nudged Jenna and pointed to them. "Ammo, maybe?"

Jenna seemed considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Can't hurt to have a look."

"Be careful, though," Stamford reminded her as they stood up after a moment. "We don't know what else is in here."

"It would be nice if it was nothing," she replied as she cautiously crossed the room, line gun held aloft. Once she made it to the shelves, Stamford joining her a moment later, she picked up a rack of line gun cartridges. "Look at that. How nice."

Stamford snorted and aimed the gun's flashlight into another corner of the room, checking to make sure there weren't any Lurkers or other ungodly deformed things in the dark that could spring on them.

His eyes widened as he found something very different than what he had expected, and Jenna turned to him as she finished picking up the remainder of the supplies. "What?" she asked, having picked up on the tension in his body.

"That," he said quietly, motioning to the thing in the corner. "What the hell is that?"

Jenna moved closer, and Stamford followed warily. "Huh. Looks like..."

Before she finished speaking, Stamford had moved closer to get a better view and hear the noises it was making.

His eyes widened as he noticed it seemed to be crying or whimpering, like a small child. It even looked like one - it was roughly the size of a kid, with thin, twiggy arms and spindly legs. Its hands were covering its face as it continued to moan in its high-pitched voice, and it rocked back and forth in its curled position.

The crying reached a new pitch as they moved closer, and Jenna said, "What the... Its skin is gray!"

The childlike thing looked up, and Stamford yelled in horror when he saw its black eyes and the elongated fingers, like talons. It emitted an unearthly scream, and Jenna shrieked as it leapt for Stamford.

ISAAC POV

"Fuck!" he cursed as the Slasher managed to swipe him. With an angry grunt, he swung his plasma cutter and huffed as he felt the solid thunk of the gun hitting bone, and the Slasher's arm separated from its body. The Necromorph hissed, but Isaac was already severing its other arm and a leg, which finally killed the beast.

"You okay?" Ellie called as she took apart the dreaded Pregnant, successfully preventing the small Swarmers from escaping.

"Yeah, fine," Isaac replied. "How much farther away, dammit?"

"Uh, a mile and a quarter!"

"Shi-it," Isaac swore, bending down to snatch a medpack after making sure the coast was temporarily clear. "It's never taken me this long to move three miles."

"Back then, we didn't have an entire colony on us," Ellie reminded him, tapping his arm and gesturing to the nearest building. "Amanda wants to contact Stamford. I can't believe it - maybe she actually cares!"

Isaac rolled his shoulders and neck, trying to relieve some of the tense knots he was developing as a result of constantly keeping his gun up. "Yeah, maybe."

He followed Ellie into the currently-clear building, glancing around them to make sure that they were safe for the time being. Inside the building, Amanda was waiting for them, seemingly examining her gun as they approached, closing the door behind them. She turned to Isaac and said, "Isaac, I think my gun is jammed. It's got a full cartridge in there, but I've pulled the trigger and nothing happens."

Isaac took the gun from her hands, retracting his visor to critically look at it with his engineer's eye. "Hmm," he muttered, testing the gun into a corner of the room and feeling a strong resistance when he squeezed the trigger. As he had expected, nothing fired. "Seems you jammed the firing mechanism. What'd you do?"

Amanda cocked her head to one side. "I think it was just that I tried to reload the gun too fast and one of them was right next to me, so I swung it and made contact when I was still in the process of reloading."

Isaac frowned and nodded. "Well, I'll just need a pin or something to unstick it. It should work then."

Only half of his mind was devoted to the small problem, however. His main concern was that Amanda had sounded much more civil and not like she wanted to rip his throat out, very different from how she'd sounded talking to Ellie.

As he pulled up the gun and aimed again just to make sure he couldn't fix it more easily, Amanda farther away in search of a pin, Ellie walked up to him quietly. "I think she wants to convince you to join them," she told him quietly. "Her gun seemed fine up against the Necromorphs until she walked in here. It's probably just an excuse."

He nodded. "Is that what she talked to you on the shuttle for? To ask us to join them?"

Ellie walked beside him as he moved to a table to unstick the firing mechanism. "Yeah, pretty much," she murmured as she handed him a pin.

Isaac paused in his work and gazed steadily into her mismatched eyes. "So, what did you say to her?"

Ellie stared evenly back, and he almost wanted to look away from the fierceness of the love he saw in her eyes. "I told her that I wouldn't prevent you from living the rest of your life in happiness if you really wanted to."

A smile crept up on his lips as he thought about her defending him, and he took another stab at the mechanism with renewed vigor. "And what did she say about that?"

"She told me that I needed to understand that the fate of the human race was at stake, and you could save us all." Ellie's voice was hard.

Isaac's stomach clenched at the thought of having to put himself through it all again. "I don't know..."

Ellie surprised him by placing her gloved hand on his cheek, and he looked up. "You don't have to," she murmured gently. "I won't force you to go if you don't want to."

"What about you?" Isaac asked, troubled. "What if you want to?"

"I'm not risking us being separated again," Ellie replied fiercely. "It happened once, and it almost killed us both. I won't let it happen again. I'm going wherever you are." She placed a delicate kiss on his mouth that warmed his body from head to toe.

As he continued to poke at the jammed lever inside the gun, he talked to Ellie about trivial things in an attempt to take his mind off of their unfortunate situation. He just needed a distraction, and looking at the warmth and love that Ellie practically exuded helped him reach a sense of calm.

Isaac finally succeeded in unsticking the mechanism just as Amanda walked over, and she seemed slightly disappointed as she took the gun back. "Thanks, Isaac," she said.

"No problem." He turned to Ellie. "Did you say something about contacting Stamford and Jenna?"

"Wha - oh, yeah! I hope they're okay," Ellie answered. "They haven't tried to contact us even once..."

They fell silent as Isaac attempted to open up a transmission on a private channel to Stamford. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for them to come in, but after a few minutes, he was forced to admit a defeat.

"Crap," Ellie sighed. "I don't want them to have to be away from us for long... You know that Stamford and Jenna haven't had as much experience as us."

"I wish I didn't have any experience," Isaac quipped sardonically.

Ellie rolled her eyes and said, "Too bad you happen to be you."

He smirked in response and looked at Amanda. "So, what's the plan?"

Amanda looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think we should stay inside the buildings," she advised. "It's better than being out in the open, where we have a chance to get swarmed again."

Isaac nodded, letting his visor cover his head again. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, I guess," Amanda replied, flashing him a quick smile. He felt faintly disturbed and hung back by Ellie as they snuck through the building, the Dissenters' founder leading the way.

"She wants an answer, Isaac," Ellie whispered to him, her voice slightly muffled by her own visor.

"What if I don't have one?" Isaac whispered back. "I don't know - I haven't thought about it..."

"Look, it's your decision. They just want you, not me," Ellie pointed out.

He stopped just as they were about to exit the building, gazing at her even thought the bright stripe of blue was all he could see. "I need you, Ellie. This is your decision too. We're going to stay together, right?"

"Right, you bastard," she murmured back, and he smiled, although she wouldn't be able to see it. "I guess we'll talk about it later."

"Yeah. I guess." Isaac looked up as Amanda came back around the doorframe, saying, "Are you two coming or not?"

Grimacing, Isaac stood and Ellie followed suit as they exited the building, carefully watching for any Necromorphs. Luckily, there were none, and they were all able to follow a side street down to the nearest building.

They stole around the corner and ran across the street to the building, quickly moving through the entrance and shutting the door behind them as they entered.

Isaac checked his navigation. "Huh, just half a mile left. Thank God."

"We don't know how long it takes to move half a mile," Amanda reminded him.

"And we still need to find Jenna and Stamford," Ellie muttered.

Amanda spun around, seemingly irritated. "Didn't I already tell you? If they don't make it, that's their fault, not ours. I didn't think you really cared about them, either."

Ellie snapped, "I'm not leaving them behind when they didn't have to come here. At least I know what's right and wrong!"

Amanda took a step closer, bristling, her voice dangerously soft. "Do you? Do you really know?"

'Time to intervene,' Isaac thought. He stepped between the two women, forcing them a step back, raising his voice.

"Guys!" he shouted. "Fighting isn't going to solve this. The important thing is to get to the goddamn lab, and we can't do that with you guys fighting all the way."

Breathing heavily, Ellie took another step back, and Isaac put an arm around her shoulders. In an undertone, he said, "Just calm down, okay?"

"It's kind of hard to when she's being a crazy bitch," Ellie breathed, watching Amanda stalk away, into the darkness of another room. Isaac sighed and held her closer, and he felt her briefly wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I just don't want her trying to control you."

"She won't," Isaac assured her. "I'm not that much of a pushover."

Ellie snorted and released him, and they continued on, the both of them checking around the corner every time they entered a new room. A couple of times there was a solitary Feeder or a Lurker, but it was easily killed and they moved on.

They caught up to Amanda when they saw her crouched behind a wall, and she motioned for them to take cover beside her. "I think there's something bigger in the next room," she said quietly. "It sounds pretty big - it makes a lot of noise."

Isaac tightened his grip on his gun, and Ellie swore quietly. He looked back at her and she said, "Sorry. I just don't want to fight anything terribly big right now."

"Me neither," he muttered. He looked at Amanda and said, "On three, we'll move in and maybe get the jump on it."

Amanda nodded and Ellie said, "Got it."

"One," he breathed, reloading his gun.

"Two," Ellie whispered, inching closer to the doorway.

"Three," Amanda hissed, and they jumped out from their hiding places, all aiming their laser sights on the being in the next room.

Stamford and Jenna yelled as they saw the three of them holding guns up, and Isaac lowered his in surprise. "Stamford? Jenna?"

"Oh, thank God," Ellie said, putting down her gun at her side. "Where were you? We tried to contact you, but you didn't answer."

Stamford sighed and said, "We were in the middle of fighting some of them. The small ones... God, what the hell? I can't believe there's little baby Necromorphs! That's so messed up."

Jenna said, "Should've known that the infection wouldn't stop just for some little ones..."

Ellie said, "Yeah, I know how you feel. But we've got to keep moving, whether we like it or not."

The two of them nodded and hefted their guns up again. "How much farther?"

"According to Nav, we've got about a block left. If you look outside, you'll see the glow from the Marker has gotten really bright," Ellie said.

Isaac looked out the window and confirmed her words. "Yeah. Let's keep moving. I don't want to stay in one place for too long."

He moved to the door, but found his path blocked by Amanda. Frowning, he tried to dodge around her, but she wouldn't have any of it and continued to prevent him from getting outside.

Impatient and confused, Isaac snapped, "Amanda, we have to go. Move!"

Amanda stood resilient in the doorway, and her posture made it very clear that she was intent on keeping them there. "You have two options."

"The hell? Amanda, get out of the way!" Ellie hissed.

Amanda continued like she hadn't heard Ellie. "One: you can join the Dissenters and leave with me, or two: you can choose to go your own way and find your own shuttle to get out of here."

Isaac's eyes widened with realization, and he pressed his lips together as he thought.

Without warning, Amanda suddenly grabbed Ellie and locked her arm around her throat, pointing the gun at her head. Ellie gasped and struggled, slapping at the older woman's arms, but to no avail.

'Fuck!' Isaac lifted his gun, half-heartedly aiming for Amanda.

"Isaac," Amanda said softly. "This is your choice, and yours alone. Don't let Ellie tell you what to do."

He saw Ellie's frightened eyes, although her face was impassive and showed no weakness, clearly willing for him to choose whatever he wanted to, and hated Amanda for forcing him to choose.

It was like the Danik situation all over again. He would either be defiant and have to live without Ellie, or he would give in and put everyone, including Ellie, at risk anyways.

Life wasn't worth it without Ellie. He would be alive and with her, or not at all.

He hesitated, and Amanda took the opportunity to say, "What will you choose, Isaac?

What will you choose?"

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter... My first time at writing action sequences - don't shoot me if it sucked. **

**Please review!**


	13. Experiences of the Near-Death Kind

**Seems like they just can't get a freaking break... **

**Maybe I'll give them another month of happiness later. Or an entire lifetime. They deserve that, right? **

ELLIE POV

The feeling of being held hostage was quite disconcerting, and even though she'd already had some experience with the situation, it still put her in a lot of pain to watch Isaac being forced to make the decision.

His blue eyes, wide with fear and anger, flicked from her face to Amanda, and she knew that he was having a difficult time choosing. She couldn't blame him - she knew he loved her with all his heart and soul, and living without her was essentially pointless, but he also knew very well that she hated for him to be in danger. Joining the Dissenters' cause would more than likely end up in him being sent on another mission, for other people who really didn't give a damn about him. And if he chose to join them, there was still a chance that only one of them would survive the next Marker incident, a notion that Ellie vehemently refused to entertain.

If she was in his place, she wouldn't have known what to do either.

It was an impossible choice, and those who didn't understand the depths of their love for each other, like Amanda, were absolute dicks for giving them a choice when it wasn't really a choice at all.

When push came to shove, Ellie knew that she would choose for Isaac to live. There wasn't any doubt about it; living in danger with him would be infinitely better than living without him, wanted or not.

Killing Amanda wasn't an option - there were innocent people who had more than likely lost people they loved to the Marker threat, and Isaac probably knew that as well as she did. It would be murder to deprive them of hope, of a solution, when they all just wanted the same thing that she and Isaac wanted.

It was a tough choice all around.

Ellie winced as Amanda tightened her hold around her throat, and her hands instinctively clutched at the older woman's arm as she felt the barrel of the gun press harder against her temple. She swallowed hard, trying to drain the expression from her face and give Isaac the clarity of choosing for himself, and locked her eyes on his.

Isaac shifted his gun, and Amanda snarled, "Choose, or she'll die!"

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Isaac asked, his voice low and almost frantic. "How do I know you won't shoot her as soon as I tell you yes?"

Ellie's blood ran cold and she shuddered as she realized the implications of what Isaac was saying. She didn't know how much Amanda had changed - the fact that she was holding her hostage was enough proof - and it remained to be seen whether or not the founder of the undercover society would let her go.

She glared up at her with barely concealed dislike as Amanda smiled and said, "Isaac, I would never. Would I?"

"I don't know," Isaac spat. "You helped us find a home, but here you are, ready to shoot Ellie for the sake of your damn cult. You seemed like a nice person when I first met you, but now, I'm not sure about anything."

"Just say yes," Amanda pleaded, and Ellie's heart twisted painfully at the sickeningly innocent tone in her voice. "I promise I won't harm her."

"You'll put her in harm's way, but you won't hurt her." Isaac snorted. "That seems a bit backwards to me."

Ellie was growing dizzy from all the tension in the air. Behind Isaac, she could see Jenna and Stamford, both with their hands resting on their guns should anything dangerous happen, and she wished that they hadn't been dragged into it, even if Jenna was a test subject.

Isaac lowered his gun then, despair in his eyes, and muttered, "Fine. Fine! I'll join your stupid society. Just let her go, Amanda."

Ellie coughed as Amanda released her, nudging her forward roughly. She stumbled into Isaac's arms, feeling him embrace her forcefully, and she leaned into him as she reciprocated his fierce gesture.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her hair. "I just-"

"Don't worry," Ellie interrupted, leaning away to look into his eyes and place her hand on his cheek. "I don't blame you in the slightest for being in that position. I would have done the same, after all. Look, Isaac," she added, seeing his eyes fill with guilt, "it's not your fault. There was no other option. Honestly, haven't we talked about you needing to stop blaming yourself for everything?"

He chuckled dryly, and Ellie smiled. "Seriously, Isaac. I'm fine as long as I'm with you. Get that in your head, will you?"

Isaac nodded, and let go of her as they realized they needed to keep moving.

Jenna and Stamford stood off to the side somewhat awkwardly, fidgeting with their guns as they waited for the couple to get going. Ellie looked up and realized that Amanda had already vanished through the doorway into the street beyond.

Unexpectedly, Stamford said, "She must really want you, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," Isaac muttered. "I still can't believe she'd just pull something like that. What a fucking nightmare."

"Unless we follow her, we won't get out of it," Jenna reminded them. Her remaining arm was held tightly at her side, apprehension visible in the way she held herself. "We're still on an infested colony, in case you'd forgotten."

"Right," Stamford said.

After another moment of hesitation, they all readied their guns, and Ellie lead the way through the short side alley, taking a peek around the corner to determine if there were Necromorphs there.

Of course, there were.

"Shit," she muttered loudly. Behind her, Isaac said, "What?"

"I don't see Amanda at all," she murmured back quietly. "And worse - at the base of the Marker are these huge tentacles, kind of like they're wrapped around the Marker to protect it. There's also smaller ones surrounding it. We're gonna have a tough time getting around that..."

"Crap," Isaac grumbled. "Have you noticed that Amanda has a tendency to disappear right at the best times?"

"It's like she's using us to do the dirty work," Jenna noted.

Ellie gritted her teeth as she recalled how Danik had said almost the same thing, back at the lab where the gas had almost consumed her. "What's our plan, then?"

Isaac looked at her speculatively, more than likely thinking about any possible ways they could go around. He stuck his head out around the corner for a moment, then retreated. "I think we need to know this information just as much as Amanda," he replied after a little while. "Load up on ammo, guys. We're going in."

"Wait a second," Stamford objected. "What if there's really nothing there and Amanda really is just tricking us into all this?"

Isaac paused as he was reloading his gun and turned to Stamford. "She would have already killed us if that's what she was planning to do all along. I don't think she would have kept us around up until now if she didn't need anything here."

"True," Stamford conceded. "And once we have the intel, what are we gonna do?"

Isaac shrugged, letting his visor fold up and conceal his face yet again. "Follow Amanda, I guess. I already told her I would join the Dissenters, and I don't want her chasing us down if we try to make a break for it."

"I wonder where she is," Ellie said quietly. "If she really is just waiting for us to take it out."

"Well, whether we like it or not, we're just going to have to go in anyways."

Ellie nodded and rolled her shoulders and neck, then let the helmet conceal her head, the familiar blue glow flaring into existence again as she grabbed her gun. "All set?"

The others nodded, and Ellie took a deep breath. "Then let's go. Be careful. Don't let them touch you."

"With luck, we'll be fine," Jenna said.

With the white lightning of adrenaline seeping into her veins and throwing her senses into overdrive, Ellie hurled herself around the corner and sprinted right towards the Marker and the larger-than-life tentacles that surrounded it, the smaller monsters quickly spinning around and screeching as they detected the four of them hurtling towards the structure.

The familiar, painful sensation of air scraping in and out of her lungs returned as she took apart the Necromorphs one by one, constantly watching for all of the others to make sure that they were all right and not in dire need of assistance. She took note of the small, industrial-looking buildings near the Marker site, reminding herself to enter them and search for either Amanda or the intel later on, when the Necromorphs were out of the way for the time being.

The glow that the Marker emitted was practically blinding, and Ellie often found herself having to put her back to the tentacles and the Marker in order to see the smaller Necromorphs that posed a more severe threat. The only thing that seemed to be on her side was that the tentacles seemed to be in a state of inactivity, and weren't intent on smashing her to bits like Isaac said Kendra had been torn apart.

As she blew the Waster in front of her into pieces, blood and gore spurting everywhere as the tentacles erupted from its legs, she shouted to Isaac, "What do you intend to do with the Marker after this?"

She saw him shoot the leg off of an Exploder, which squealed loudly as it toppled over, and he shouted back, "I'm gonna leave it behind! Even if we blow it up, it's still going to be able to spread the contagion! There's no point in doing anything with it."

"Okay," she called back, snarling as she saw a couple of the Swarm heading towards her. The creeping heads each took a few shots to get rid of, brain matter and blood exploding everywhere, but she soon dispatched them all.

Ellie glanced to the right and witnessed a solitary figure in one of the Marker test lab buildings, moving around the desks and chairs inside as it seemed to be searching for something. The figure, which appeared to be wearing a white suit like Amanda's, stopped and looked like it was staring straight at her.

Ellie let out a humorless laugh as she realized it was Amanda, indeed letting them do all of the heavy lifting as she lounged in the temporary safety of a building. Amanda waved sarcastically, and, despite Ellie having known her for a very, very long time, she found herself hating the woman for all the trouble she'd put them through.

She raised her right arm, the one not holding a gun, and flipped Amanda off, muttering, "Bitch," under her breath.

She couldn't be sure that Amanda had actually been able to see the gesture, given that she was about an inch tall from where Ellie was standing, but it didn't matter.

What mattered was that the ground was trembling beneath her feet, and beside her, Stamford spun around and started swearing like a fiend.

The reason for the nearly unintelligible stream of curse words coming out of his mouth was the Tripod that had just heaved itself out of a hole in the enormous mass of necrotic flesh surrounding the Marker. Ellie was horrified as she realized that the tentacles had merely been concealing the mass from view, and there were actually enormous caverns everywhere within the flesh that the tentacles snaked around to open up or hide away.

This particular Tripod, however, was enormous; it was nearly three times the size of a normal one. If there was ever a time when she thought the regular ones were large, this blew them all right out of the water.

Jenna screamed, "What the fuck is that thing?!"

"A Tripod!" Isaac yelled to her. "Don't let it get you down on the ground - it'll try and stab you in the head!"

"Shit!" Stamford swore, and Ellie had to agree.

"You see those yellow, swollen things on its arms?" she called to him, pointing at the weak points, and he nodded. "Those are weak spots. Shoot them, and it'll make life easier for you."

"Got it. Jenna, hit the yellow spots!"

"Fine!"

As the super-sized Tripod stood swaying, looking like it was about to fall over, Ellie looked at its third leg and noticed something strange. It appeared that its third leg, the one supporting it from the back, was actually a tail and kept it attached to the mass of flesh bordering the Marker. The tail trailed back into the hole, and Ellie wondered if that meant there was a limit as to how far it could travel away from the Marker.

She ran to Isaac as the Tripod roared deafeningly, and cried, "It has a tail, not a leg!"

Isaac echoed, "A tail? What does that mean?"

"Look!" Ellie pointed to the appendage, and Isaac exclaimed, "Oh! Uh, I guess that means it can't move very far."

"So what do we do?" Ellie asked, but the ground rocked under her feet as the Tripod moved closer, its weight shaking the ground heavily, and she was forced to move away from Isaac as it seemed to be heading straight for them.

She dodged to the side as the Tripod leaped into the air, its massive form blocking out the light from the Marker for a moment, and gasped when she felt the impact vibrations that caused her to lose her footing. A quick glance behind her confirmed that Isaac had rolled in the opposite direction, and the Tripod was actually going for him out of them all. "Isaac?!" she shrieked, panic setting her heart thumping even faster.

She could just barely hear him say, "I'm fine! Stay back," but she was already rushing to help him.

The enlarged Tripod moved quite fast for its size, and Ellie was surprised to see that it was actually able to prevent Isaac from getting out of range with its frequent jumps and changes of direction. Determined to protect Isaac, she switched her plasma cutter setting to the alternate fire and succeeded in planting a mine straight in the patch of infected flesh.

The mine exploded and blasted off the Tripod's arm, and the giant Necromorph crumpled to one side as it lost the support, a bellow ripping from its deformed throat. Ellie took the momentary distraction to run around it and to Isaac, switching her gun to the primary fire again.

"I thought I told you to stay back!" Isaac shouted, and Ellie sighed.

The ground shook under them, and she whipped her head around to see that the Tripod was hobbling to them.

She turned back to Isaac and yelled, "We're in this together, remember? I'm your wife, for better or for worse, and I'm going to help you whether you like it or not!"

Isaac said, "Fine, sorry! It's kind of an instinct!" He shot Stasis at the beast and began firing at it, and Ellie followed his example, pumping round after round into the yellow pod.

"We'll always have each other's backs, right?" she asked.

He turned his head in her direction, and she knew he was smiling, although she couldn't see it. "Always."

ISAAC POV

Although he had intended to draw the beast away from the only person keeping him in the universe, he had to admit that he was very glad for Ellie's support. The extra rounds she was shooting helped immensely against the disgusting Tripod, which he had hoped to never see again after the Sprawl.

As he reloaded his gun, he shouted to her, "Who were you flipping off earlier?"

"What?" Ellie shot at the yellow flesh again but missed.

"Before the Tripod came out, you flipped someone off. Who was it?"

"Oh, it was just Amanda," Ellie said, sarcasm practically dripping off her words. "I told her to go fuck herself, seeing as how she's not helping."

"She's in the building?" Isaac spat, furious with being used like a pawn once again. "Damn her!"

"I knew she was going to give us nothing but trouble," Ellie muttered. "Shouldn't have trusted anybody when we came back to Earth."

He was about to tell her that they kind of had to when the Tripod suddenly turned around and headed back for the wall of flesh around the Marker, dragging its enormous mangled body.

Isaac stared after its retreating form, mystified. "What's it doing?"

"I don't know," Ellie murmured. "Should we shoot it?"

Isaac shrugged. "I guess..." He aimed a few shots at the Tripod's weak spot, but it was already disappearing into the tunnel of flesh. Soon it vanished from sight entirely.

Ellie lowered her gun. "Huh. That's weird. Never seen one really run away before, especially not something that large."

"I know." He gazed into the darkness of the flesh tunnel once more, then opened up the RIGlink, letting his visor uncover his face. "Stamford? Jenna?" he asked. "You guys all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just kind of got stuck battling more Necromorphs while you guys were fighting the Tripod," Stamford replied.

"Are you guys okay?" Jenna asked.

Isaac glanced over at Ellie and replied, "Yeah, we're fine. Well, what do you guys think we should do next?"

"I don't know," Stamford said. "Something's telling me that it's not quite all over..."

"It's not."

The voice didn't belong to either Ellie, Stamford, or Jenna. Isaac spun, trying to find the source of the voice. His eyes landed on the figure wearing a white RIGsuit, standing close to one of the windows in the building closest to them. By narrowing his eyes, he was able to make out the light blue holographic display that indicated that she was on an audio link, and her voice had sounded familiar anyways.

Fresh rage boiled inside him when his mind turned to her deceptive actions, and he roared, "What the hell do you want, Amanda? We're all out here, risking our fucking lives for you and your sick faction! What more do you want, huh? What else do I have to give you?"

He could almost see Amanda smiling at them in superior satisfaction as she said, "Oh, Isaac. So much is happening here that you don't know about."

"Damn right I don't know anything about this shit!"

Amanda continued as if she had never been interrupted. "I've been searching for the intel in this building, but I haven't found anything here. However, I do believe that it must be near the Marker. Very close, in fact."

Isaac turned to Ellie, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Great. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Close as in inside that mass of Necromorphic tissue. Destroy the thing, and find the intel."

"Why don't you come down here and show us how it's done?" challenged Ellie. "If you need it so much..."

"You know you want the intel as much as I do," Amanda retorted infuriatingly. "And the Dissenters need me alive to function properly."

Isaac growled and reloaded his gun forcefully. "Fine."

After ending the audio link, he said to Ellie, "We better be careful around this thing. None of us know what other surprise attacks it could spring on us."

Ellie nodded, hefting her gun up protectively. "I think Stamford and Jenna are on the other side of the Marker - don't see them anywhere." Her voice grew quieter as she asked, "Isaac, do you think there's a possibility that we could just ditch Amanda after all this?"

Isaac sighed in response, and she stepped closer. "I'm sorry," she amended quickly. "I-"

"No, you were right to ask." He paused, thinking, forcing his leftover anger to dissipate so he could think clearly. "Well, we have to work with her so she doesn't just dump us off here and leave us for dead. I have a feeling that she knows the place very well. She kept disappearing on us and coming back afterwards..."

"Which would make it difficult for us to get to the shuttle before her," Ellie concluded. "Yeah, I see what you're saying."

"And afterwards..."

He watched her visor retract so she could see him face to face, and her eyes softened. "Isaac," she said gently. "If you feel the need to save the world, I promise you I'll support your decision. I may not like it, but I'll follow you as long as you don't try to get yourself killed."

He felt his heart squeeze and thump almost painfully, in a good way, and he couldn't help the smile that made his lips turn up at their ends. "I'll try my best not to. But I just... I feel the need to keep my word. I told her I would help the Dissenters, and I'm not about to go back on my word now."

"Sometimes I wish you were a bit more selfish, Isaac," Ellie sighed. "We've both been betrayed so many times, but you're always ready to fight for the world no matter what."

"Hey, I'm fairly selfish," Isaac objected. "I'm not really fighting for the world - I'm fighting so that maybe, one day, you and I can live without being afraid all the time."

"But you're still not fighting for yourself."

"A little. Mainly you."

Ellie laughed. "Same here, you bastard," she said affectionately. "I'll always fight for you."

Isaac held her to his body, feeling her wrap her arms around his chest, and she was just about to press her lips to his when Stamford called, "Are you two going to stand here all day? We have something important to retrieve!"

Isaac rolled his eyes, letting Ellie step back after he released her. "Always interrupted," Ellie quipped, and he smirked.

"We really should get going, though," he said, shielding his head with his visor. Beside him, Ellie did the same, and they started heading around the Marker to Jenna and Stamford.

But they didn't get very far.

They hadn't walked ten feet when the same Tripod from earlier exploded out of a different tunnel, and Isaac realized with horror that all around the Marker, Brutes and Drag Tentacles were emerging from the holes all around them.

"Goddammit!" Ellie groaned, and Isaac couldn't help but agree. He loaded his gun up, feeling the familiar adrenaline racing in his veins.

Fresh anxiety hit him as he realized that the Brutes also had a restraining tentacle in place of their legs, and he shouted to Ellie, "What do the tentacles have to do with anything?"

She didn't answer for a moment as she fired more rounds into the remaining weak point on the Tripod's other arm, then shouted back, "I don't know! Do we really have time to figure it out?"

"I just feel like it might be important!" he yelled.

"Well, I have no idea, Isaac! There's really not much we can do about it - it's too thick just to shoot through!"

As she spoke, Isaac managed to take off the Tripod's remaining arm, and the giant Necromorph crashed to the ground, making Isaac and Ellie wobble on their feet. With a weak roar, it flailed around for a moment, then collapsed, and Isaac breathed a sigh of relief as he lowered his gun. "I think it's done," he said to Ellie.

However, Ellie shook her head vigorously and said, "No, no, no, it's not!"

Isaac spun to see the Tripod shaking on the ground in a very familiar fashion, rolling around and then sprouting new limbs. The long, disgusting tentacle of flesh keeping it attached to the even larger wall of tissue around the Marker was pulsing violently, and the more he looked, the more he was able to distinctly see the yellow glow that lit up the tunnel. The glow was being emitted from another weak point somewhere on the tentacle, and Isaac nudged Ellie to point this out. "There's another spot on the tentacle," he informed her. She nodded and asked, "So what do we do?"

He glanced at the Tripod. Due to its larger size, it was taking a longer time to fully regenerate its limbs, but Isaac knew they still didn't have much time. "I'm going to draw it out, for starters, and then I want you to shoot the yellow pod on the tentacle. We'll just have to see what happens afterwards."

"What? I can draw it out, you know, I'm not going to get killed-"

"I never said I was," Isaac interrupted, reloading his gun. "Just trust me here, okay?"

"Fine. Be careful."

He nodded and began moving back just as the Tripod heaved itself up to its full height again, and decided he could spare a few rounds to shoot at it just to get it going.

It worked. The Tripod's full attention was now on him, and it stalked menacingly closer as he began backing up, hoping that the area was free from smaller Necromorphs. He began firing at the Tripod with precise, quick shots, unwilling to waste his ammo just in case the situation wasn't as he had planned.

As the Tripod leaped into the air, Isaac rolling to the side to avoid being crushed, he contacted Stamford in the hopes of being able to help him out. "Stamford? You okay over there?"

He was relieved to hear his friend reply. "Yeah, just dealing with a Brute - shit, Jenna, be careful! How do we kill these things? We've wasted more ammo than we can count!"

"Just draw them out, away from the Marker! The weird tentacle things keeping them attached - I think they help them regenerate. Cut 'em off, and go from there!"

There was a silence as Stamford ingested the idea, and Isaac repeated more urgently as he shot more rounds, "Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Isaac ended the audio link just as he managed to get the Tripod to leap out even further, and he had to dodge to the side yet again so he wouldn't get stabbed to death. "Ellie!" he shouted as he continued to back away. "How much more?"

"Just keep going!" Ellie answered, and he groaned, frustrated. "Almost there!"

He stared up at the towering Tripod in disgust, muttering, "Come on, you bastard, come and get me!" He fired a shot at its deformed head, planting a bullet in the gory flesh, and it roared, seemingly renewing its efforts to destroy Isaac.

He continued to move away from the Marker, drawing it out with the occasional shot from the plasma cutter and being careful to avoid its huge limbs. At some point, when he found he was unable to see Ellie clearly as she avoided the Drag Tentacles and other Brutes, she contacted him via an audio transmission. "Isaac," she said breathlessly, "you can stop there. Just hold it and I'll try to destroy the pod."

"Thank the fucking Lord," he muttered, hitting the weak point on its arm. "Tell me when you get it."

Ellie didn't answer for a moment, but he heard the sound of her gun firing and he assumed that she was dismembering the tentacle.

She didn't need to tell him that it was severed, though. As soon as the tentacle was cut, the Tripod screamed so loudly in its dissonant voice that Isaac thought his ears would burst. The enormous creature shuddered violently, and behind it, Isaac could see the long tail whipping around in agony, blood spurting from the end.

He grimaced and gripped his weapon tighter as the Tripod began stomping towards him quickly, the ground shaking with every step it took. It now seemed angrier and more hostile than ever, and Isaac knew he would have to be extremely cautious around the agonized beast, which now had no limit as to how far it could travel.

Its left arm was the first to go, falling to the bloodied ground after Isaac successfully cut it off with several well-aimed shots. The Tripod sagged a little, as expected with only one arm to hold it up, and chased after Isaac at a slower pace.

"Crap, I'm running out of ammo," Isaac said to himself. He had about five rounds left, and from what he remembered from previous encounters, the Tripod's arm took about ten shots to cut off.

He looked up, worried, as the Tripod came too close for comfort, and rolled away from the beast when it swiped at him. There weren't any packs of plasma cutter ammo as far as he could see around him, and he wasn't sure if he could dodge around the giant Necromorph and manage to get away temporarily.

A yell escaped his lips as the Tripod swung and managed to send him to the ground, and he was horrified to see the thing leaning over him menacingly as it extended its tongue, tipped with a horrifically lethal-looking scythe that Isaac was sure would hurt like hell upon entry.

Frantically, he raised his gun and aimed for the yellow sac Tripod's tongue, only landing one shot since it was moving too much. The time came when he had no ammo left, and the Tripod had him pinned down helplessly.

His heart hammered in his chest, and he felt sickened as he realized that there might not be a way out of his predicament this time around.

'Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-'

The Tripod was just about to slam the scythe down when its tongue suddenly detached itself from its body and landed on the ground, leaving the Tripod with one arm. It emitted another earth-shaking roar, and then toppled over, leaving Isaac alive but very much shaken.

He glanced to the side as he got to his feet, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees so he could breathe more easily. Ellie stood beside him, gun in hand, and she smacked his arm lightly as she berated him.

"I thought I told you to be more careful," she snapped, gripping his shoulder firmly.

He panted, "Yeah, I know. Ran out of ammo."

"I saw that." Ellie let him calm his heart down for a moment more, then said, "Come on, let's keep going. We still have to find that damn intel."

Isaac nodded, and she set off before him as he gathered up his gun and retrieved some more ammo from the Tripod corpse. "Hey," he said, and she paused, seemingly surprised. "Thanks."

"What - I wasn't about to let you die," Ellie protested indignantly. "Are you really thanking me for saving you?"

Isaac shrugged. "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead by now." He bent down to pick up another rack of ammo.

"Same as always," Ellie sighed. "I'm constantly saving your ass."

"Why not? It's an ass worth saving," Isaac quipped, and Ellie laughed.

They continued back into the fray around the Marker, and Isaac was glad to see the corpse of the super-sized Brute that Stamford had been battling. He pointed to it and said, "Good. It means they figured it out."

Ellie nodded. "So, just keep shooting them?"

"Yeah, I guess." He took a look around and realized that there had been less of their enemies than he had originally thought. "Hopefully it won't take too long and we can just get the hell out of here."

"Hopefully."

Despite the number of larger enemies that Isaac and Ellie were forced to fight, it took a surprisingly short time to get rid of all the giant Necromorphs now that they knew how to really kill them. Jenna and Stamford also took apart the monsters on the other side of the Marker, and soon, the wall of flesh encasing the artifact was no longer a threat as it sank down to the ground, collapsing the tunnels within.

Isaac sighed with relief and lowered his gun, finding with distaste that he was once again out of ammo. "Thank God that's over."

Ellie nodded in agreement. "Should we tell Amanda?"

"Fuck," Isaac cursed. "I guess." Scowling, he opened up an audio transmission and said, "Amanda, we killed it."

The founder of the Dissenters immediately responded, saying, "Good work, I'm glad to hear it. Now, retrieve the intel, and we'll make our way back to the shuttle."

"What are we looking for?" Ellie asked, her voice cold.

"Probably just a personal log, one that has Knowles' name on it."

"Fine." Isaac ended the transmission, sighing. To Ellie, he said, "Split up to look, or stay together?"

"I think we should stick together," Ellie said, her voice sardonic. "You know, in case one of us gets stabbed through the back."

"Amanda already has," Isaac said, gesturing to the woman in the building.

"Oh, right. I forgot."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Isaac began to climb the disgusting heap of flesh that separated them from the Marker. Once he was on the other side, the climb made difficult by the gore coating the tissue, he jumped down, shielding his eyes from the blinding glow that emanated from the Marker.

A minute of searching near the Marker revealed nothing. He called to Ellie, who had walked farther away, "See anything?"

She paused, looking at something near the wall of flesh. "Uh, yeah. Give me a hand, would you?"

He walked over to what Ellie had pointed out, seeing what appeared to be a personal log wedged partly under the mass of flesh. "Huh. Looks like we found it."

They finally extracted the intel when Isaac ended up having to stomp the surrounding flesh, seeing as the mass of Necromorph tissue was too much to move. Ellie picked it up, and she breathed, "Oh, my God," as she read through the contents of the log.

"What?"

Ellie shook her head, saying, "I don't know, I just... Oh, God."

Isaac took the intel from her to read it himself, and his eyes widened as he discovered its contents.

The only thing on his mind was 'Oh, my God.'

**If you haven't already, check out the Dead Space 3 OST for "Convergence." If you don't cry or feel some strong emotion, either you're really tough (unlike me) or you have no emotions or soul (unlike me). **

**Here's a BioShock reference: Would you kindly review?**


	14. Never an Easy Way Out

**For those of you that were thinking, "What the hell is this bullshit?" during the last chapter, that was me trying to write what I think a boss battle would be like from Isaac's point of view. I apologize for any internal weeping this may have caused, since it took up half the chapter.**

**Well, here's another chapter. I hit a milestone - never have I published a story that was fourteen chapters or updated this frequently. All for my love of Isaac and Ellie... A big thank-you to Ragnarok666 for the main idea of what's in the intel - you're amazing!**

ISAAC POV

As he sat in the shuttle, flying away from the infested colony after the return trip and several Necromorph battles, his mind couldn't help but return to the astonishing thing he had learned in the past hour. Ellie, for once, was not up in the cockpit piloting, but sat beside Isaac, leaning into his chest as they both tried to accept the facts.

"It's finally going to be over," Ellie whispered from beside him, and he looked down, tightening his grip on her arm.

"Yeah, finally," he responded quietly.

The intel from Knowles' had revealed that there was, in fact, a final solution. There was a way to stop the infestation once and for all, there was a way to get the normal life that Isaac and Ellie needed to have for once.

There was a way to make sure they would both be safe for the rest of their lives, and not constantly be plagued by the fear of Necromorphs or Unitologists that would hunt them down.

Upon reading the text log, Isaac and Ellie had learned that the Markers, the Necromorphs, the Brethren Moons - they had all come from one source, not just spawning at random and taking over entire planets.

The Black Markers were sent through space to planets with life forms on them from one source: the first Brethren Moon. Knowles had dubbed it the "Prime" Brethren Moon, saying that it was the cause of all the contagion and Necromorph infestation that had infected countless civilizations. It was responsible for the changing of dead flesh into insatiably hostile creatures, it was the sole cause of the formation of Necromorph Moons, and it was more than likely the center of the network that linked the Moons.

Isaac recalled the final sentence of the text log, presumably just before Knowles had been caught. "Kill the Prime Moon, and you kill the contagion."

But the Prime Moon would more than likely be a bitch to kill. Since it was the first one, the very first to spread the contagion and form Markers, it would probably have unimaginable power. The Moon Isaac had fought had still been in the process of Convergence when he had killed it, which meant that it hadn't been completely formed and up to its full strength quite yet. And if he had thought that particular one was fairly difficult to kill, a fully formed Moon, and the Prime Moon no less, was really going to be the worst motherfucker he'd ever have to fight.

His insides twisted into knots when he envisioned the battle with the Tau Volantis moon. Back then, he'd had the Machine to help him as well as the TK charging pads, which were essential in even harming the gargantuan creature.

But there was no telling if Isaac would have any help besides that of his friends this time around.

He shifted uncomfortably, and as he did so, his head seemed to explode with agony.

He was aware of the fact that he was yelling loudly, his body tensed up and his muscles rigid, and that Ellie was calling his name urgently, shaking his shoulder, but he couldn't snap out of whatever the hell was taking hold of his body.

His blood turned to ice in his veins as an image superimposed onto everything before him. What appeared to be more Moons were flashing in front of his eyes, outlined in an eerie orange light, flashing closer and closer as the pain his head intensified and he thought he would implode.

With horror, he heard many voices, all rasping and grating like the voice of some unknown beast, whisper to him. "We are hungry. We are coming."

Then they disappeared, the Moons and the voices, and the pain slowly began petering out as his eyesight returned to normal and his body was his own again.

He sank into the chair, aware of Ellie's worried eyes on his face, and he discovered that he was trembling with fear and shock. Ellie said, gripping him tightly, "Isaac, are you all right? What the hell was that?"

He swallowed, painfully noticing the fact that his throat was sore, and coughed, "It was the Moons, Ellie. They - they said they were hungry, and they're coming."

Ellie's eyes widened, and he hated that he was further worrying everyone in the shuttle. No doubt Jenna and Stamford were freaked out, and Amanda would most likely be interested in this development.

"We're running out of time," he said weakly. "I don't know how much longer-"

"Less than a month, right?" Jenna interjected.

"But what if Norah was wrong? What if they show up earlier than we expected?" Isaac asked, his throat grating.

"Shh," Ellie shushed him. "Don't talk too much - you sound terrible. And don't worry," she added, catching the fresh panic he felt was visible in his face, "we'll sort this all out later. The best thing right now is just to keep going. Like usual."

Amanda cut in, saying, "We're going to be at the space station soon. It's close to Jupiter, pretty much as far away as you can get from Unitologists and the like. Also, the station fairly secluded, not much outside influence."

Isaac simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak around the near-bipolar woman. Instead, he pulled Ellie closer to him and tried to get himself comfortable, quietly murmuring, "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. Apart from what happened just now, everything's all right."

"You're sure?"

Ellie paused, looking at him somewhat strangely. "Isaac, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You never know," Isaac defended himself. "Just making sure."

"I know... But seriously, nothing's wrong with me. I feel fine."

They fell silent as Ellie curled herself into Isaac's side, wrapping an arm around him as well, and Isaac found himself almost drifting off from the warmth and the exhaustion he'd been trying to keep at bay. He closed his eyes, and then he was finally able to rest, after all the tumultuous events he'd experienced on the colony.

ELLIE POV

She had been lying when Isaac had asked her for the second time if she was all right. Her heart had leaped into her throat, choking her, as she saw his wide, panicked eyes and heard his breath coming in uneven gasps as he fought against the sight holding him down.

Even now, she still felt sick, her stomach twisting and turning as she worried for his health. It was obvious that he'd be in danger as long as the Moons were still a threat - of course, they would all be in harm's way, but he more so than the others - no matter how far he ran or how long he hid.

And even though the permanent solution was before them, she knew it was going to be the hardest thing that either of them had ever dealt with in their entire lives.

But she would not let him get hurt. She would protect him at any cost, and her only concern was that he survive the whole ordeal.

Gently, she shifted Isaac's body so his head was no longer in an uncomfortable position and his body was resting comfortably against the seat, and she leaned into his side, simply being with him and sharing the warmth that their bodies provided. She didn't actually fall asleep, however; paranoia of what Amanda might do to them while they were unconscious forced her awake when Isaac was sleeping.

He sometimes stayed awake for her, too, waking up after the initial crash when he came back from work. More than once, she had woken up to see him gazing out into nothingness as she rested, and every time she had smiled and reached up to touch his face, telling him that he needed to rest too, that he needed to sleep so he could function at work the next morning.

And he usually did, falling asleep almost immediately. She'd gaze at his temporarily peaceful face for a little while, then press a soft kiss to his cheek and then draw a cover over him.

Protecting him. That was part of loving Isaac, and loving him came as naturally as breathing; even more easily than the essential process, in fact.

Sometimes she'd get somewhat paranoid and confused when she woke in the dead of night and she would think that she had never gone back to rescue Isaac at all, that he was still stuck on the planet of ice and snow, but a glance back at her sleeping love reminded her that he was in fact alive. Thinking back on it, it had been an instinct that she couldn't fight, going back to save the one person she really loved.

Of course, reuniting with Isaac made her the happiest she'd ever been and had patched up the fragmented mess of her heart, but at the same time, she felt bad for bringing him into more danger. He really didn't deserve it; he needed to be happy, not always panicked or frantic over whether he would survive the next hour or not.

However, it was all just part of being him, and if he wasn't constantly in danger, Isaac wouldn't be the man Ellie loved.

And he himself had never complained about his life anyways. Ellie knew that he sometimes wished his life was different, but not once had he said outright that he wanted it all to stop. He just wasn't the complaining type, unlike Norton.

A small smirk came to her face as she thought about the EarthGov captain. Almost every minute of her time with Norton had been spent with her comparing the two men and always coming to the conclusion that Isaac was a much better man for her, and sometimes she still felt guilt gnaw at her for wasting time on Norton that should have been spent with Isaac. The captain was too jealous, too cowardly, too much of the opposite of Isaac.

And she had already known, even then, that she was in love with the engineer.

Sighing at the strange and bittersweet turn that her thoughts had taken, she shifted yet again, trying to get comfortable. Up in the cockpit, Amanda was piloting the shuttle silently and somewhat haughtily, still refusing to speak to them even after she'd received the intel. Upon reading it, she'd seemed mildly surprised but then continued back to the shuttle, leaving Ellie and Isaac to fill Jenna and Stamford in on its contents as they fought their way through hordes of Necromorphs.

And Jenna and Stamford...

Ellie couldn't help but feel bad that they had been dragged into this mess. Their second time fighting Necromorphs would be in the most important battle ever, and she didn't want them to die, even though she was still wary of Jenna. They didn't deserve to be risking their lives for others like Isaac had, especially when they very well could have been living at home, undisturbed by the turmoil of Marker-destroying.

The only reassuring thing about the issue with Jenna and Stamford was that they hadn't seemed too affected by the news that the Prime Moon would be the hardest to kill of any creature they'd ever faced. They knew the risks, but they didn't seem too worried about it, and Ellie took it as a good sign.

She glanced down at Isaac as he slept, albeit fitfully, and she realized that he was murmuring in his sleep. When she leaned closer to hear him more clearly, her heart twisted painfully and she felt saddened.

"No," Isaac was mumbling. "Don't... Ellie!" he said. "Ellie, don't do it - don't listen to her."

It sounded like he was having a nightmare - he tended to talk in his sleep when his dreams weren't of the best quality.

She tightened her arm around him as his voice got louder, though thankfully not quite at shouting level. "No! Listen... Listen to me!"

'What the hell is he dreaming about?'

Isaac unconsciously held Ellie closer to his side, his fingers clenching almost painfully on her arm even through her RIGsuit. She grimaced as his limbs began twitching, like he was fighting off some invisible enemy, and couldn't quite wake up from the nightmare.

The twitching and mumbling reached a peak, and suddenly, he jerked awake, throwing himself into a sitting position and breathing in loud gasps, his eyes wide.

Ellie's heart rate spiked and she grasped him tightly as his wild eyes found her face. "Isaac," she breathed as he shook slightly, "what is it? What's happening to you?"

"It's... It's nothing," he managed, but then resigned after seeing the look she gave him. "I just can't have a break. I can't rest because of a stupid nightmare."

Ellie rested her head on his shoulder, offering comfort as she realized how frustrated and worried he was. He rested his head in his hand, the one not gripping Ellie, and sighed deeply, clearly just wanting nothing more than to rest peacefully.

"What was it?" Ellie repeated quietly. "Your dream - you said my name..."

"I did?" Isaac asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You talk in your sleep. When you have nightmares."

"... Shit. I didn't know that. That makes things awkward."

"Isaac."

"Fine," he conceded, letting his hand drop and actually supporting his head himself. "I was dreaming that Amanda was talking to you about the Necromorph infestation. She said that we could stop it only if I was completely focused on the mission, and I couldn't do that if I was constantly worried about you. It was like she wiped your mind - you believed every bit she said, even when she told you that suicide was the only way to make everything better. You said your goodbyes, but I didn't know about it until the very end..."

Ellie didn't say anything, but she felt her insides clench at the thought of him desperately trying to get her to listen and she held him as close as possible without crushing him. It was clear that that was what he had been mumbling about, and it was even more obvious that he was worried for the two of them.

Isaac's voice was hardly audible as he continued, "And then I was too late to save you. You were gone."

"Oh, Isaac," Ellie whispered. "You worry so much about all the wrong things."

"But it's a legitimate worry," Isaac insisted. "I don't want anything bad to happen that would tear us apart, Ellie. Even if I can't control it."

"Like I said," Ellie pointed out, "Nothing bad will happen. You're safe for now, and I'm not going to let her influence me in any bad ways. We're fine, Isaac. I love you, okay? Everything's going to be all right."

He looked at her, and then it seemed that he wasn't simply looking into her eyes as much as he was gazing past them and into her soul, the love they had for each other that was untouched by time and untarnished by others connecting the two of them in the deepest way.

She could only hope that what she had said was true, and that nothing would be enough to separate them.

**I'm sorry. The content of this chapter doesn't exactly have many plot-furthering details, but I really just wanted some fluff because I'm feeling sad and I need it. However, I do hope you enjoyed it.**

**REVIEW!**


	15. Interesting Developments

**I'm extremely concerned - I keep feeling like I'm losing Isaac and Ellie, like I'm not interested in them anymore, and I don't like that because I want to stay interested! I don't want to give up on them! If any of you guys have ever felt that way, please, tell me. **

**Actually, maybe it's because it's almost summer and I'm lazy. Who knows? **

**Once again, I'm sorry for the delayed updates - school sucks, and finals seriously just want to kill me. I hope you'll keep reading this story and stay interested!**

**Also, I just noticed that my phone actually tends to delete letters that I know I typed for sure, and they could change the meaning of the sentence or make me sound slightly stupid... Please don't think I am. My phone is dumb, that's all. **

ISAAC POV

The rest of the trip to the space station was shorter than he had originally thought, the time passing by as he conversed quietly with Ellie. Amanda had informed them prior to their arrival that the Aurora space station had little interference from Unitologists or the remnants of EarthGov, and that the headquarters of the Dissenters were located there as it was an ideal place for such a secluded organization.

Isaac just hoped that the rest of them weren't as much of fanatical psychopaths as Amanda seemed to be, like the Unitologists. He'd had enough of the effects of cult devotion for a lifetime.

The sort of brain attack he'd had earlier, where he'd seen the Moons floating in front of him, hadn't happened again, but he was still on his guard. Neither he nor Ellie had a clue as to why he would even be having that type of vision, but the only explanation he could think of was that the Moons were coming, and they were coming fast.

He looked over at Ellie as she murmured, "I think we should stay on our guard. I don't want too much trouble while we're here, especially since Amanda had us join her group."

"At gunpoint," Isaac reminded her. "If she hadn't been about to shoot you, I wouldn't have done it."

"We need to stop getting ourselves into situations where it's a do-or-die choice," Ellie muttered.

"Yeah, I know. But I think it's just part of being us."

Isaac stared out of the window, watching the approaching space station as they drew closer and closer to the docking bay. Up front, Amanda called back to them, "We're going to land in about a minute... Take a moment to get yourselves ready."

Isaac growled under his breath as they began readying themselves to get off the shuttle. He didn't like the idea that they were about to enter a secluded station that was more than likely brimming with people, people that had all lost something important to them because of Unitology. Furthermore, of those devotees, how many were willing to sacrifice almost everything in the universe to repay for what had been taken away from them?

He tightened his grip on Ellie's hand as they entered the docking area, the place almost empty except for a couple of other shuttles that probably belonged to some of the citizens. Ellie looked up at him, and she whispered, "On our guard, right?"

Isaac nodded, his mouth tight, and she murmured to him, "Hey. It's going to be all right."

His mouth quirked slightly, and she smiled. "How many times do I have to tell you that, Isaac?"

"A lot, I guess."

"You just worry too much."

The floor of the shuttle shook slightly as Amanda brought it to a stop. As the hatch opened and they all stepped out, weapons held loosely in their hands, Isaac noticed that there wasn't another person in sight. He muttered to Ellie, "Where is everyone?"

She looked around in response, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the room for signs of life. "I don't know," she said quietly. "But judging from the fact that they're fairly secluded, I'd say that they don't visit this section much because they don't get a lot of incoming people."

Isaac nodded. "Guess you're right." Yet it was still eerie to see that there was nothing except for an empty hangar that echoed and creaked with mechanical noises.

After a moment in which Isaac tried not to think about the too-silent atmosphere, Amanda informed them, "I already contacted the next-in-command of the Dissenters. They said they're awaiting our arrival."

He heard a mutter of anxiety from Stamford behind him, and Isaac knew that his former coworker was nervous about the people he and Jenna would be meeting. The two of them were more than likely uninformed about the whole issue with the Unitologists, and since these Dissenters were intent on bringing them down at some point, they would be fighting for an unknown cause that they didn't even have to join in the first place.

It wasn't very fair that the two of them would have to be caught up in the middle. He felt the guilt dragging at his stomach, and he dropped back to where Stamford was as they continued to walk to wherever the Dissenters were located.

Stamford looked up as Isaac spoke quietly. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry you have to go through this."

Stamford's eyes darkened, and he looked at the ground. "I wish I didn't have to, either, but it's not your fault. I just... I just wish that Jenna didn't have to be in danger," he sighed.

"I wish Ellie didn't have to, either, but I know she'll be okay. She's tough, and I'm pretty sure Jenna is too."

"Yeah, I hope," Stamford grumbled. "She feels her missing arm is making her inferior - she can't reload a gun fast enough, and she says she hates putting me at risk because of her injury because I always have to cover both of us."

Isaac felt pained as he recalled the sense of loss both he and Ellie had felt after her eye had been gouged out. Only after the replacement surgery had she started feeling better about what was hiding in the shadows, feeling that she could handle anything and everything again. Isaac, on the other hand, had always felt a remnant of guilt until she had laughed it off and said that she didn't blame him for it anymore, and even then he still felt a little sad.

The difference between him and Stamford, however, was that Stamford was not directly responsible for her injury. Isaac had only asked Ellie to look after Stross, but she wouldn't have been injured if he hadn't asked her to, whereas Stamford had simply been aiding Jenna in her escape and wasn't the cause of the airlock closing.

Feeling the need to share the solution with his friend, Isaac said, "Why don't you get a prosthetic? I could pay for it, if you want."

Stamford clearly didn't approve of his idea, disbelief flashing in his eyes. "Hell, no, Isaac! I appreciate you being my friend and all, but I can take this on my own. I have to."

Stamford moved to Jenna's side then, and Isaac felt his heart twinge as he watched Jenna wrap her remaining arm around the younger man's waist, showing none of her insecurity.

A gentle voice in his ear startled him, and he turned to see Ellie gazing at him, her mismatched eyes soft. "You still feel the guilt, don't you?"

Isaac took her small hand in his, threading his fingers through hers as he confessed, "Yeah, I do."

"But why?" Ellie asked him quietly, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to his mouth that made his heart thump twice as fast. "I already forgave you, Isaac. I don't want you to feel guilt for what happened anymore."

"I don't know," he admitted quietly, noting that they had finally exited the hangar and were now heading down brightly lit hallways. "I hate knowing that I hurt you, that's all."

"I guess we're even, then," Ellie responded. "I hurt you when I left you and started something with Norton, and I felt guilty about that too."

He looked away then, and she sighed quietly. "Look, we've both made our mistakes. I won't lie about that, but what's important here is that we love each other and we'll always be here for each other. Forget the past, Isaac - now is so much better."

Her words seemed to lift a burden in his heart that he'd almost forgotten existed, and he smiled, relieved, when she added, "Honestly, Isaac, you can't keep the guilt in there forever. You'll go crazy if you keep it up."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, laughing a little. "The past always comes up at the worst times - I don't exactly like having those moments."

Her answering smile was full of warmth and love, and he couldn't help but smile back.

ELLIE POV

She had been quite surprised upon hearing that Isaac was still feeling bad over the loss of her eye. Although she herself sometimes remembered the incident and winced at the painful memories that surfaced, she was able to forget about it most of the time.

But Isaac wasn't that quick to forget, she reminded herself. Especially when he felt that he was at fault.

Hopefully, he would stop taking the blame soon. She'd meant every word she said - she didn't blame him for what had happened in the least, even if she felt a little disappointed in herself for choosing Norton back before Tau Volantis.

But that was different.

That sort of guilt would stay with her for a much longer time, because she'd caused him emotional trauma mostly, and she knew that feelings couldn't be fixed quite as quickly as physical wounds. However, she didn't mind shouldering that burden as long as she was with Isaac. Being with him - it was all that mattered to her in her chaotic world.

She observed the hallways and rooms around them as they continued walking, surprised to see that there was still no sign of anyone even living in the space station. It was odd that they'd traveled at least two hundred yards into the station and still hadn't seen anyone even walking around.

It was like being back on the Sprawl, but this time there weren't reanimated corpses stalking the halls with the floors and walls covered in blood, as far as she could tell.

She shuddered at the memory of the horrific outbreak, the event that had sent her world spiraling out of control and lead her to dismember people that had once been her friends.

But there were no Unitologists here, Ellie reminded herself. There was no need to be afraid unless there was a Marker on board - and what would be the purpose of that except to allow the Dissenters to study it? The organization had to know that the Marker was not a sacred artifact if they were so intent on bringing the Church down, which meant that containing the Marker in a shroud would be the only way to go if they wanted to prevent an outbreak.

She listened to Stamford and Jenna murmuring quietly to each other behind them, trying to distract herself from the problem of the Markers and Unitologists. They would figure it all out when they finally met the Dissenters, assuming they were even in the space station, and when they had more information.

Their group finally encountered another living person when Amanda called out to a figure down the hall, a young woman who seemed to be heading into a complex of private rooms. "Lucy!"

The so-called Lucy spun around, evidently surprised. "Amanda?" she called, her voice echoing slightly down the long hall. "Is that you?"

Amanda nodded, and Ellie was mildly surprised to see that she was smiling, something that hadn't happened for the past several hours. "Yes, it's me."

Lucy began walking at a quick pace to where they had stopped in the hallway, reaching them quickly with an eager smile on her face. "I see you've brought more people," she said, looking at the rest of them with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

Amanda laughed and replied, "Not just random people." She gestured to Isaac, who gripped Ellie's hand tightly as though in discomfort. "This is the Isaac Clarke," Amanda said, introducing him like he was some sort of celebrity and emphasizing the word "the" much more than was necessary. Then, motioning to each of them in turn, she continued, "And this is his wife Ellie Langford, Jenna Okana, and Alex Stamford."

Ellie simply nodded as they were each introduced, somewhat surprised by the fact that Amanda had remembered their friends' full names from the brief introduction they'd had before heading off to New Horizons.

Lucy's eyes widened, and she whispered, "By golly, I never expected that... Well, you'd better head over to the Central - Tara said she'd heard you were coming back, and she's waiting for you there."

Ellie felt uncomfortable by the admiring and nearly awed look in the young lady's eyes. Lucy was probably in her late teens, just growing out of girlhood, and Ellie could already tell that there was a sort of celebrity crush developing.

Amanda turned to head to the bridge and they continued on their way, leaving Lucy to do whatever it was she was going to do, and Isaac wrapped his arm around Ellie as they kept walking. "That was really weird," he muttered, and Ellie nodded in agreement.

"I don't know why she'd be interested, though," Ellie said thoughtfully. "I mean, does everybody here know about you, or is it just her? We don't know for sure how much Amanda's told the Dissenters about you, if she's said anything about you at all."

It wasn't really the fact that Lucy might be interested in Isaac (she already knew that Isaac loved her and her alone) that was eating at her; it was more of the idea that they would have to face the consequences of unintended popularity among a group of anti-Church rebels. If Isaac was known to be alive and aboard the Aurora station, what would happen when word inevitably reached what was left of the Circle and the Unitologists?

Silently, Ellie answered her own question, her stomach twisting painfully at the mere thought of it.

If the religious bastards found out about him being alive, they'd hunt him down for sure, and Isaac would have even more to deal with because he would already be on his journey to kill the Prime Moon. There really wasn't any rest for the weary - he'd had ten lifetimes' worth of battling through monsters, undead or not, and she knew as well as he did that the risks increased every time he went into the fray.

She didn't want him in danger anymore. She wanted him happy and safe, but those things didn't seem to come easily for more than a couple months at a time when it was Isaac she was thinking about.

'Well, I'll just have to give him all the help I can, and Jenna and Stamford will be there too. Somehow, we'll get through this."

She'd actually come to cautiously trusting the test subject - Jenna hadn't snapped yet, and Ellie felt that optimism was the best way to go now that they were a team. They needed to have solidarity, unity - the proper kind - and if they couldn't work together, there was no hope for the mission.

More people appeared around them as they delved deeper into the station, casting them wary looks and occasionally pausing in their work to watch the newcomers pass by. Ellie tightened her grip on Isaac as she saw a person who reverently murmured, "Amanda. Lead us to the end."

Isaac shuddered slightly, and he whispered to her, "It's like the Unitologists praising Altman as a greeting. Ellie, what have we gotten ourselves into?"

She looked into his worried blue eyes and whispered back, "I don't know, but it doesn't sound good. It sounds like a cult."

"It is a cult," Isaac decided. "Shit, we need to be very careful around these people. There's no telling how desperate they are for redemption."

"That's what I was thinking," Ellie said quietly.

She couldn't decide whether or not to tell him about the added issue of the Unitologists. He would have enough to think about already, and being more knowledgable about the situation at large was not exactly worth a mental breakdown.

"What are you thinking about?" Isaac asked, apparently noticing the thoughtful look on her face.

Ellie shook her head, silently promising herself that she wouldn't burden him further. "Don't worry about it."

"Tell me," he insisted.

She bit her lip, trying not to show her concern. "Look, I'll tell you later. I feel like it might be too much to handle right this moment."

Isaac scrutinized her expression, and she kept her face neutral as she felt his gaze piercing her eyes. "There's something you're not telling me," he said, his voice patronizing.

Ellie drew some resolve from within her body, attempting not to let him discover what was on her mind. "Well, yes. Don't worry about it," she responded. "Like I said, I'll tell you about it later. It's not a good idea to bring it up now."

Isaac narrowed his eyes, then relented. "Fine, but you better tell me later."

"I will," she promised. To herself, she said silently, 'When it's an appropriate time.'

But the question was, when would it be?

ISAAC POV

He mused over whatever was irking Ellie as the group of them continued on to the Central. It wasn't like her to keep something involving the both of them a secret, and if she didn't want to tell him about it, that meant it was probably something big, which only served to make him even more curious.

But of course, she wouldn't tell him unless she felt it was time to.

They finally reached the Central after a long elevator ride to the near top of the station, and Amanda stepped out first, looking around their surroundings as they entered the enormous lounge.

"Jeez," Isaac said after a moment. "Is it just me, or is this station built differently?"

Ellie made a noise of agreement, and he listened to Amanda reply, "Actually, it is built a little bit differently than other stations. We wanted a huge room where we could all meet up at the same time if another piece of crucial information was discovered."

"So you're saying the station was built just for the purposes of the Dissenters?" asked Jenna.

Amanda considered it for a moment, her brow furrowing. "I suppose."

"Huh," Ellie murmured to Isaac, peaking his interest. "I wonder if the construction company was curious as to why she needed this big of a room."

Isaac narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Yeah, that's weird, now that I think about it. How much influence - or money - does she have?"

Although Ellie didn't mention anything else, Isaac could tell she was thinking the same thing he was: how much was Amanda hiding?

As they crossed the Central, Isaac took in the structure of the room - completely glass windows on two sides parallel to each other, and the other two simply plain walls. The ceiling was high enough that Isaac had to crane his neck to look at it, and as far as he could see there were clusters of chairs around many, many tables, like a lounge. He wondered if there was a broadcasting system, and then he noticed loudspeakers along the walls in intervals as well as small microphones set in the center of each table.

"Probably for discussions," Ellie said upon following his gaze to one of the mikes.

"The windows?" he asked.

"Maybe if they want to keep an eye out for incoming traffic."

Isaac nodded. "Good thinking. I wonder if they're paranoid..."

"We don't know for sure just how far gone they are," Ellie reasoned. "I mean, maybe some of these people aren't even Dissenters, just regular people who want to be alone."

"We'll just have to see," Isaac muttered.

The walk to the front of the Central took a while, considering that the room was about a thousand feet long, and Isaac found that the silence and the occasional echoes from quietly conversing people made him fairly apprehensive. He shifted his gaze to various objects around the room and the blank holovids that were set at random intervals along the walls.

Finally, they reached the front of the room, and they found there was a podium about ten feet away from the thick glass separating them from the void of space. Standing near the podium was a short woman, about twenty-five, who surveyed them with a friendly look on her face. Isaac instinctively tightened his arm around Ellie's shoulders as her slate-gray gaze passed over him, and he felt her lean a little closer to him in response as the two of them felt the need to be careful around everyone.

Amanda greeted the petite woman as the rest of them stood back warily. "Tara," she said, shaking the hand that the younger woman extended.

Turning to Isaac and the rest of the group, she explained, "This is my second-in-command, Tara. She took over my job as the Head of the Dissenters when I decided to work undercover back in the United European Republic. I must say, you've done a fine job keeping it running," she added to Tara.

Tara smiled, brushing her jet-black hair aside. "So now that you're back, I assume you'll be taking over again?"

"Of course," Amanda asserted. "I've brought more recruits for the Dissenters as well."

"Ah, yes," Tara said. "Isaac Clarke, it's nice to meet you."

He started upon hearing his name spoken by this unfamiliar woman, then nodded, still on his guard. "Nice to meet you too."

"And Ellie Langford, Jenna Okana, and Alex Stamford," Tara continued. "Lucy sent me a transmission. It's good to meet new people."

Isaac could almost feel the agitation boiling inside of Ellie, and he murmured to her, "Don't worry about it, I'll ask."

But before he could even open his mouth to ask the question, Amanda said, "So, let's get started, shall we?"

"Right! I've already got the program running - the intel you sent back to us was very helpful and I implemented the setup as soon as I received it."

"Good. Let's get going."

Irritated with the lack of incoming information on his part, Isaac snapped, "Wait just a fucking second! Can one of you please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

Amanda turned to him, surprised. "Hmm?"

Tara looked from Isaac to Amanda, her expression surprised as she took in his aggressive stance and the fierce look on Ellie's face. "You mean you didn't tell them?"

Amanda shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. "I needed their immediate cooperation."

Ellie stepped forward, her further aggravation obvious in her clenched fists. "Cut the crap. I think we all have a right to know what's going on, especially since we agreed to help you and your organization."

There was a heavy silence, Isaac and his group expectantly waiting and the two Dissenters caught off guard.

Finally, Tara cleared her throat. "Well, as I presume you all know, the Dissenters was founded to take down the Church of Unitology. But since its upbringing, it's become so much more than that - we not only have become dedicated to uprooting that religion, we've decided to try and end the Necromorph threat just the same."

She pulled something from her pocket, and Isaac recognized it as a text log. "We had relations in the mission to Tau Volantis," she explained, holding up the text log. "I believe you worked with Jennifer Santos, the Marker Ops specialist, during the mission. She was one of us and aided us during experimentation with the Markers."

Isaac heard a gasp of surprise from Ellie as she grasped what Tara was getting at, and he thought, 'This might be bigger than I thought it would be.' But he merely said, "Keep going."

"We have connections almost everywhere - learning about the Markers and the Necromorph contagion has taken up much of our time, but the information that Amanda was willing to retrieve for us was the final thing we needed to begin our own program."

"And what's the program?" demanded Stamford. "Jenna has already been through the Marker testing. If you make her go through something like that again, I swear I'll-"

"It's nothing like that," Tara interjected. "Although Marker test subjects are exactly who we need to make this work, the methods we'll be using are much more humane and less stressful than that of the Marker program."

Isaac's heart pumped faster and his alertness spiked as he realized that the program would need him as well. Jenna would most likely be inducted into the program, too; the fact that Marker codes had once been lifted from both of their brains meant that they would somehow be important to the Dissenters.

Swallowing down his trepidation, he asked, "What's the program, exactly?"

Tara pursed her lips. "I can't really tell you that much about it," she answered. "But one thing I can tell you is this: we're running out of time. The Moons are coming, and we're enlisting the help of all the Marker test subjects we can find, but it may not be enough."

"What? How did you know they were coming?" Isaac asked, eyes widening.

"I've received reports from some of the program personnel that several of the test subjects were having visions of what they called Brethren Moons. The Moons, I've heard, were chanting, 'We are hungry. We are coming.'" She looked at Isaac, her gray eyes calculating.

"They were," Isaac muttered, shuddering as he remembered the agony and panic that the vision had induced in him. "I've seen it for myself."

Tara looked surprised. "So it really must be true, then. We've got to get going - I promise I'll have someone from the program explain it to you, but the most important thing right now is for you to go to Deck 5 and take a visit to Dr. Craig Morris. He'll direct you from there."

Isaac nodded, placing a hand on Ellie's shoulder. "Sounds good."

But before he and Ellie could begin walking to the program setup, Jenna, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly burst out, "Okay, so you're practically just asking us to become your lab rats again when we don't even know if we can trust you?"

Amanda retorted, "Jenna, you agreed to fly here and help us. You're standing in the Aurora station right now. Did you really just ask me if you could trust us? If you don't trust me, why would you come here in the first place?"

Jenna remained silent, her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed. Stamford put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off and whirled around, stalking back across the huge room with anger coming off of her in waves.

Isaac turned to watch her go, Ellie beside him and Stamford on his other side. "I'll try and talk to her," Stamford murmured. "She's been scared something like this would happen ever since we escaped."

"I'm not surprised," Isaac replied. He looked on as Stamford jogged to catch up to his girlfriend, trying not to listen as Amanda muttered, "I take it she's fine with being in the program."

He followed Ellie as she began walking across the Central. She took his hand when he caught up, tightening her fingers around his almost to the point of pain as she murmured, "I hope she'll be all right."

"I think she'll be fine," Isaac said, watching his friends disappear into the elevator. "If anyone can calm her down, it would be Stamford."

They walked on in silence for a little longer, passing an uncountable number of those chairs placed in groups around a single table. Isaac looked at one of the holovid screens mounted on the wall as they passed by, and realized the message 'Operation Reversal now in effect' was scrolling across the screen over and over.

"Look," he said, pointing to the screen. Ellie frowned as she read the words, then said, "I guess we really did get into some serious crap."

Isaac smirked humorlessly and said, "Yeah, we did."

They continued across the room, Isaac picking the pace up since he wanted to get there as soon as possible. Ellie kept up easily, her long legs striding rapidly as they finally exited the Central and entered the elevator.

When the door shut and the elevator began its descent to the fifth deck, Ellie suddenly asked, "Why aren't you afraid, Isaac?"

Isaac glanced at her, surprised. "Huh?"

She stepped closer, and Isaac swallowed hard at the sight of her gorgeous eyes, framed with thick lashes, suddenly feeling her intense gaze. "How come you aren't scared about the program?" Ellie queried, her voice soft.

Isaac did his best to ignore the hard ball of heat forming in his stomach - it had been a while since he'd physically been with Ellie - and answered, "I am, but I know we'll be fine." He shivered against the touch of Ellie's hand on his cheek and murmured, "I know we'll get through it somehow."

"As always," Ellie whispered, her eyes closing as Isaac leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her full lips.

They were forced to break apart when the elevator door opened, and Isaac again took Ellie's hand in his, slightly disgruntled, as they entered the fifth deck.

Before them was a vast field of what appeared to be dividing curtains, each enclosing an area about ten feet wide and fifteen feet long, that stretched from almost wall to wall. The curtains prevented him from seeing whatever they contained, but he deduced that they were separating cubicles that were probably used for the testing program, whatever that meant.

Along the walls were glass windows that enabled him to see the complex machinery and computers whirring away inside. Isaac guessed that they had put a lot of time and money into funding the entire operation, and his throat tightened as he imagined just how much was riding on the success of the program.

Ellie caught his attention when she tapped his arm. "Look," she said, pointing to a man he hadn't seen before who was moving around in the computer room. "Think that's Craig?"

Isaac squinted, the reflection off of the glass as well as the distance making it difficult for him to see. "Well, he's pretty much the only person in this room besides us. Let's go."

The man looked up at the sound of the door opening, and Isaac was relieved to see that the name tag on his chest indicated that he was, in fact, Craig Morris. Craig approached them, extending a hand as he said, "Isaac Clarke. Just the man I wanted to see."

Isaac gripped the researcher's hand firmly as he said, "Dr. Morris. Tara sent us down here to-"

"Oh, yes, yes, I've heard all about it," Dr. Morris interrupted. "I assume you're here to learn about Operation Reversal?"

"Yes," Isaac said uncertainly, glancing at Ellie. "We have no idea what's happening here."

Ellie interjected, "And how do all of you know Isaac? Did Amanda tell everyone on the ship about him?"

Dr. Morris sighed, rubbing his chin as he cast a speculating look at Isaac and Ellie. "Amanda only told us that Isaac was a wanted fugitive who had been a Marker test subject as well as a key figure in the Unitologist opposition," he said eventually. "Before she left about a year ago, she said she would return to the United European Republic to try and recruit some old friends. I guess she found you along the way."

Isaac didn't speak for a moment as he contemplated the idea. It seemed logical that Amanda had decided to try and gather more people for the Dissenters, but he couldn't decide if it was fate that had led to their meeting or something else at play. The whole thing just appeared to be too much of a coincidence.

Deciding to think about it later, he asked, "Is everybody on board a Dissenter? Or are they just people who happen to live on the station?"

Dr. Morris turned back to the files scattered on the desk, rifling through the papers as he informed them, "When the station was built, people who wanted to stay away from the chaos of a life near the government and Unitology asked if they could stay here, but we rejected them. Too much collateral damage, you know - none of us wanted innocent blood on our hands because they got caught in the crossfire. So yes, everybody here is in the organization, more or less."

Isaac glanced at Ellie, catching the look in her eyes that said, "Huge cult, huh?" He nodded in response, and said, "What's Operation Reversal? Amanda said she started it up as soon as she sent Tara the information, and all I know is that Marker subjects make the best people for this program."

"Hmm," Dr. Morris mused. "I think it's best if I show you... Follow me."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Isaac followed Ellie, their hands still connected, out of the control room and into the same vast testing area that they had encountered previously. Once they had joined the scientist, Dr. Morris pulled away one of the curtains to reveal what looked like...

A NoonTech machine.

Isaac choked, painfully remembering the "sessions" that Stross had once described to him during the nightmare on the Sprawl. The machine had required a very painful eye poking procedure in order to access the Marker codes where they were stored in the brain, and Isaac hadn't remembered the sessions until he had performed the procedure himself. It was something that he didn't exactly enjoy.

'Why would they be here? I thought it wasn't anything like that!'

He managed to cough out, his eyes locked on the dreaded piece of technology, "What... Why is this here?"

Dr. Morris strode over to the machine, tapping his fingers on the outer shell as he said, "We got the idea for the tech after we heard what the effects of the real NoonTech machine were. But this one doesn't involve a needle - it uses a painless laser that performs the same function with the same results. Also, we added in a database that would store the codes that appeared in the subject's head, which we will use for different purposes."

"Those codes are used for building Markers," Ellie pointed out, tightening her grip on Isaac's hand, helping to steady him and make the memories fade. "How can you use them in any other way?"

"You already know how the codes were used to build Markers. We discovered that, during our investigation of the Markers, that the codes were implemented into a specific pattern, they could also be used to construct a different type of artifact entirely."

Isaac was utterly taken aback but tried not to show it. "Uh, what kind?"

"Think of it as a reverse Marker," Dr. Morris suggested. "The Markers have two personalities. There is one that seeks to replicate itself. It is considered the evil side because it tells people to kill themselves to start an outbreak. The other side is the good side, the one that tells people to run away and save themselves from becoming Necromorphs."

Isaac nodded, an image of the Red Marker on Aegis VII flashing into his mind as he remembered how it had manipulated him from what seemed like the good side. Then he saw an image of the Gold Marker that had only been interested in killing him, manifesting the evil voice of the contagion. It was strange to think that the artifacts could even want its victims to stay safe when their existence was to spread death. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well," Dr. Morris continued, "we found a way to replicate only the good side of the Marker, and we figured that if we managed to create one and place it near an outbreak, it would combat the effects of the actual Marker there assuming that there were still survivors. That way, we would manage to prevent a Convergence event if it ever came to that."

"Hmm. It sounds like a good idea," Isaac said. "But even if we do manage to stop the outbreaks on the colonies, how will we defeat the Brethren Moons? We don't have a lot of time before they get here, and I think the most important thing is to kill the Prime Moon because that would end the Necromorph threat permanently."

Dr. Morris sighed. "We haven't found a way to make killing it easier besides just bringing one of the Markers in and seeing what happens. We're working on it, though," he added hastily, seeing Ellie's indignant expression. "I'm trying to determine if we can use the codes we receive in any other way. We will get though this, though, I'm sure of it."

"Hopefully fast," Ellie muttered. Isaac snorted and moved closer to the machine to get a better look.

Dr. Morris had been right - the needle had been replaced by a laser, and he was glad to see it. Having an eye slowly pierced and not being able to prevent it as instincts demanded was something he didn't wish on anybody, and it relieved him to know that the new testing subjects wouldn't have to go through it again.

Pointing to the machine, he asked, "How many of these do you have? I noticed that they're a smaller version of the real machine."

"We manufactured about a hundred of these," Dr. Morris answered. "There are about that many former Marker test subjects in the station."

Isaac nodded. "Huh. So you're gonna bring them in and begin the program?"

"Yes, soon." Dr. Morris caught the questioning look on Ellie's face and quickly said, "No, Isaac, you'll begin testing in a few days. I'm sure you'll want to rest."

Isaac wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or guilty for not helping. "You're sure?"

"Yes. We will have enough subjects to work with without you." Dr. Morris stepped out of the cubicle, dismissing them from the testing area as he said, "Thank you for stopping by - head back to Tara and I'm sure she'll provide you with accommodations."

Isaac thanked the doctor and headed back into the elevator, Ellie beside him. The door closed and he punched the button to head back to the Central.

Now that they were alone, he figured he had a chance to ask Ellie what she'd been so bothered about. "Now that we have some sort of solidarity here, can you tell me what you wouldn't say earlier?"

Ellie attempted to hold back a smile, but he could clearly see it pulling at her lips. "You just won't give up, will you?"

"Not a chance," he replied. "Tell me!"

"No," Ellie insisted, and he rolled his eyes, taking her hands in his firmly.

"Ellie, you said you would."

"I changed my mind," she answered, the smile breaking out.

"Come on," Isaac sighed. "I don't care if it's too much to handle."

Ellie bit her lip, the smile fading as she became more serious. "Isaac. You're under a lot of stress. There's only going to be more from here on out, and I absolutely refuse to burden you any more."

"Then tell me so I can be more prepared," he said. When she looked away, he groaned. "Why is it such a bad thing? You and I both know that I need to know this."

"It's bad because it involves Unitologists and those other bastards," Ellie sighed, finally giving in just as the door opened and they walked out. He released her wrists as they began the utterly long walk to where Tara was still speaking with Amanda. "I didn't want to tell you because I know you'll have your hands full with the Moons and all that, and you didn't need to be worrying about the religious bastards coming after you again."

Although a small stone settled in the pit of his stomach when she mentioned them again, he shrugged it off. "It's not a big deal, I've had them after me before."

Ellie pressed her lips together. "I don't know... I just feel bad about you having to deal with them all the time."

"Hey," he said, making her look up. "I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm fine as long as you're okay."

He was relieved to see the smile on her face that warmed him from the inside out, and he knew that no matter what, they would face the threat of the Necromorphs together.

They would survive.

**Personally, I feel like this was a good chapter. I hope you agree!**

**Review, please! I know it's been the longest wait between updates but I hope it was worth it. **


	16. Showing Love and Affection

**Good grief, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! My life has gotten really stressful lately, but thankfully, writing has helped to relieve some of my tension. I hope you haven't lost interest in the story either. **

**I just went back and reread the first few chapters of this story, and... Oh, God, I feel embarrassed just thinking about it. I can't believe my writing was that terrible. I wanted to rewrite them, but I decided to leave it as a sort of tribute to see how I've developed as a writer. I hope you're all okay with that. **

**That last chapter was super duper long! Nearly 7,000 words... Wow. Lots of milestones are being passed in this story, I'm glad to say. **

**On with the story!**

ISAAC POV

It was great to not have to do anything terribly stressful for a day, Isaac reflected as he lounged in the room he and Ellie had been assigned. Thanks to Dr. Morris's kindness and understanding, he wasn't scheduled to begin his testing sessions until the next day, when he would be deemed more relaxed and probably rested.

He had taken advantage of his day off and the fact that Ellie didn't have to work to spend time with her, just the two of them enjoying each other's company. Neither of them had done much as of right then except for sit in bed and talk, somehow managing to escape the fact that they were on a space station filled with cult members and that they were still under the imminent threat of the Moons.

Isaac missed having moments like this. Somehow, he could tell that with the events heading his way, he wouldn't be able to simply lie around with Ellie and talk about trivial things. And today, he damn well intended to make use of not having to test quite yet.

The clock on the bedside table read 10:30, so he reluctantly got up and tugged on his gray shirt from the day before. Beside him, Ellie stretched, extending her arms, and grabbed her blue v-neck from where it had been hastily discarded on the floor.

The night before, Isaac had discovered that Ellie was feeling just about as deprived of physical contact as he was, so they'd spent a good while relieving their tensions, put simply. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, caring for her and being able to express how much he loved her. It wasn't until he'd watched her face, so peaceful in sleep, that he'd realized love was something he took for granted. Having Ellie around was something he'd grown to consider normal, and he hadn't fully appreciated how much the woman had changed his life.

In the days to come, he knew he'd have to rely on Ellie for support and stability, and he knew that she would want the same from him. Love was the one constant in their ever-changing world, and he'd have to hold on to it more than ever just to get through the turmoil.

Without her, he would literally be nothing.

He smiled as this thought reached his lips, and Ellie cocked an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "What?"

"Nothing, just thinking," he answered.

"About...?"

Isaac shook his head. "Pretty much everything."

"As usual," Ellie quipped.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hips as she tried to walk past him, holding her firmly in place. "Which is why I was attempting to let go of some of the stress," he reminded her, and she sighed, smiling.

"Think it's safe to say it worked?" Ellie asked.

He nodded, grinning. "For sure," he confirmed.

He released her then, and they set about making themselves presentable to go to the cafeteria, since their room didn't have a kitchen.

For some reason, Isaac couldn't help but look back on the drastic turns that his life had taken. From the disaster of the Ishimura, to the nightmare of the Sprawl, and finally the cataclysmic events of Tau Volantis, he would never be able to tell where he would end up, and it was sometimes this thought that kept him awake at night, the unpredictability of his own life. In the next week, day, hour, minute, there was no telling what would happen to him and Ellie. It scared him, the unknown and the feeling of unexplainable panic that accompanied it, but he was always fighting against it to save himself and Ellie.

He managed to shake off the strange, almost forebodingly nostalgic feeling just as they entered the elevator, ascending to the cafeteria level. Just as the door opened, the feeling of a hand gripping his startled him, and he turned back to see Ellie, concern in her green and blue eyes.

"Is everything okay?" she asked tentatively. "I feel like you've been a bit... off, just now. You were really quiet."

Isaac grimaced. He hadn't intended for his apprehensive feelings to be so obvious, but there was no hiding anything now that she'd picked up on it. "There's always something bugging me," he said.

Ellie bit her lip. "Well, I know that, but what is it this time?"

He sighed, starting forward again, and after a moment he felt rather than saw her walking beside him. "I'm just worrying about the future," he explained. "I don't want either of us to get hurt, but it's hard to ensure our safety when I can never tell what's going to happen in the next minute, let alone month."

At the mention of the coming month, he shuddered - he hadn't quite forgotten about the Moons. Only a few weeks remained until they would have to face their biggest threat yet, and he was fairly sure that none of the Dissenters had any idea on how to destroy the Prime Moon.

He suppressed the desperation that was threatening to rise up again as he listened to Ellie say, "I know how you feel. I've been thinking about it too."

She hesitated, however, and he prompted, "But...?"

"I'm not exactly sure how things will play out, given that there are a bunch of fanatical people around us," she admitted. "There's no telling if they'll go crazy and do anything to take down the Unitologists, so we might just be expendables to them."

"I don't like that idea," Isaac muttered just as they entered the cafeteria. "We actually came to help when we didn't have to."

"I know," Ellie answered. "It's just something I thought of. We might not actually be in any danger."

"Except for the Moons," Isaac muttered, grabbing a tray.

Ellie sighed as they got in line. "Look, there's always going to be that threat around, but there's really not much we can do about it unless you start your testing today. And we both know that neither of us wants you to start quite yet," she added, seeing Isaac's surprised expression.

"Oh, good," Isaac remarked. "I thought you actually wanted me to go and test."

Ellie laughed, and he took comfort in that sound. "No," she said. "Of course not. But all it is is that we need to be on our guard, as usual."

"The same way it's been for the past couple years," Isaac muttered.

He fell silent as they loaded up their trays and found a place to sit in the enormous eating area, claiming a table that was somewhat secluded and near one of the windows.

As they ate, Isaac looked around the room, taking note of how many other people came in, how many seemed to be on a schedule as they ate quickly and then left. He observed that those same people had a sort of hardened look to them, as though they'd been through hell and back, and he deduced that those would have been former Marker test subjects who were implemented into Operation Reversal.

He wondered if people thought of him the same way, if they could look into his eyes and see the unimaginable torture he'd suffered through before coming here. If they saw a man who had killed to survive, taken down countless Necromorphs so he would have another minute to be alive.

"Good grief," Ellie muttered, snapping him out of his pensive thoughts.

Isaac looked up to see her staring at him with a calculating expression, like she was sizing him up. "What?"

"Anybody would have thought you were on drugs or something," Ellie answered. "You keep spacing out, like you're trying to really figure a problem out. What are you thinking about?"

He sighed, getting irritated with himself because he couldn't seem to really let go of the problems he wanted to escape. "I could escape my problems for a little while," he admitted to her, "when I was with you. But now that I can see other subjects and know that they were like me at one point, I can't stop thinking that maybe we got into something bigger than we thought. I don't know anything right now. I don't know how much time we've got left, I don't know how much danger you and I are in, I don't know how much I can trust anybody. I just don't know."

He'd been right. There was always something bugging him.

Inside, he was fairly stunned at how much he'd given away. He hadn't even known he was feeling those things, but now that he was telling Ellie about what he was thinking, he realized it was true.

"I'm sorry," Isaac apologized when Ellie didn't say anything. "I didn't mean to ruin this morning, but I guess I just did."

Eventually, Ellie said quietly, "No, don't worry about it. It was going to happen sooner or later. Not you ruining our day off," she added, seeing his surprised expression. "You didn't ruin it at all. But it's just our lives that are like this - we're never going to get away from it until we permanently end the Necromorph threat. I don't blame you for thinking about it all the time."

"I just wish I could escape it for more than two hours at a time," Isaac muttered, still displeased.

Ellie smirked and took his hands in hers, leaning across the table as she said, "It's okay, Isaac. Everything will be fine. I know you worry, and I know I can't stop you from worrying, but I promise that it'll all be okay."

Isaac smiled in response and nodded, glad to find a temporary bit of relief. He didn't know when he would start worrying again - it had practically melted away the hope of having a stress-free day - but he was more than happy to forget for a little while.

Ellie released his hands then, and he leaned back against the chair. Isaac took a moment to look around the room again and watch the few amount of people leaving for testing, and the lingering others who simply had nothing else to do.

After a brief silence, a thought came to mind that made him reflexively narrow his eyes, and Ellie glanced at him as he inquired, "You say you know how I feel, but how do you manage not to show it?"

Ellie crossed her legs at the knees and rested her elbows on the arms of the chair, interlacing her fingers. Isaac took this as a sign that she was really thinking about what he'd said, and he felt slightly confused about why she wouldn't know right away. Ellie wasn't one to keep people - especially him - waiting for an answer.

He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding when Ellie finally replied, "You know, I can just tell. Things are going to turn out fine - you'll survive; everything will be okay. That's why I don't worry too much. I know that nothing too bad will happen one way or another."

Isaac nodded, in complete understanding with her explanation. "I see."

However, something was off about Ellie's words that rattled him. He couldn't pick it out, couldn't get a grip on what it was, but that unidentifiable something opened up a pit inside him that gaped. He could feel his insides falling, that awful sensation of helplessness.

'What the fuck?' he thought, shaking off the panicky feeling with some effort. He'd never felt like that before, not even as he learned of the deaths of various people he knew. He'd never felt so... afraid.

This full-scale uncertainty hadn't even made an appearance when he thought Ellie had been killed - it was traumatizing, that was for damn sure, but the fact that she was alive, and yet still something about what she'd said jarred him, was even more disconcerting.

There was no time to dwell on it further; Isaac looked up to see that he and Ellie had been joined by Stamford.

"Hey," Isaac greeted him.

Stamford merely nodded as he pulled out a chair and took a seat, what appeared to be a permanent scowl on his face.

Isaac looked around for Jenna, sure that she wouldn't be lagging around especially since she felt so wary around these people. He was unable to find her in the vast room, so he asked, "Where's Jenna?"

Stamford leaned forward and said in an undertone, "The bitch decided to make her test, just because she said she was being too uncooperative."

Ellie let out a gasp of surprise, and Isaac groaned sympathetically. "Fuckers," he muttered, clenching his hand into a fist.

It was clear from the way that Jenna had stalked off the day before that she was afraid and skeptical about the program. Forcing her into it showed a complete lack of respect on Amanda's part, given that Jenna had just encountered and survived an outbreak for the first time in her life, and it was just downright cruel to make her become a subject yet again with no recovery period.

Ellie hissed, "I can't believe she'd do that!"

"I couldn't either," Stamford sighed wearily, running a hand through his ash blond hair. "I tried to convince Amanda otherwise, but she wouldn't have any of it. She gave me this whole speech on how since she's the founder, anything she says goes, and I can't do anything about it because I'm just a subordinate." He glared down at his whitening knuckles, his own hand forming a tight fist.

"God," Isaac muttered, thinking of the probably terrified girl. "I hope she's doing all right."

"How long are the sessions?" Ellie questioned, her eyes still narrowed in anger. Isaac could tell she didn't want him to suffer through the same torment, and he took her hand, giving it a brief, somewhat comforting squeeze.

"Dr. Morris said about five minutes per session," Stamford replied, "and probably at least five each day."

"That doesn't sound like much," Isaac commented, "but it feels like a day when you're being tested."

"Jenna said the same thing," Stamford said. "But even though this testing probably won't be as bad, I just - I didn't want her to have to keep going through this shit." He shook his head despondently.

Isaac grimaced, knowing that Ellie would probably feel the same way come the following morning. "Until we end the threat for good, shit's going to keep happening."

His head ached a little when he thought of the vision of the Moons. Yesterday he had experienced another one, right after Ellie had fallen asleep, but the pain had been slightly more intense. She'd woken up as he had been half-yelling with pain, and his pained grimace was more than enough to tell her that he was having another vision. He was pretty sure that meant that the Moons were going to arrive soon. The clock was ticking, and their time was running out.

He tapped his fingers on the table, unable to prevent himself from thinking about the Marker threat. As though in response, a small throb of pain pulsed behind his right eye, and his vision shifted a little, as if the curtain of reality had been blown slightly by the whispers of the Marker to reveal sinister secrets lurking underneath.

After a moment, Stamford rose from his seat abruptly. "I'm going to go visit Jenna," he said. "You can come with me if you want."

Isaac nodded as his former coworker left, then glanced at Ellie. "What do you think?" he asked.

Ellie tilted her head to one side. "I guess," she answered. "Especially since we don't have anything else to do..."

After a second, they stood from the table and followed Stamford down to the testing level. The ride down in the elevator was fairly quiet and full of tension - Isaac felt the air full of Stamford's pent-up anger and frustration. He could see the younger man's clenched jaw and tense muscles, and Isaac couldn't help but wonder at his devotion to Jenna. It was obvious he loved her very much.

On the inside, he was smiling at the very thought of Stamford's love life, and young love in general. It was entertaining, he supposed, almost cute - as awkward as it sounded - to witness the process of younger adults falling in love.

'Damn nostalgic feeling.'

He remembered various, ephemeral flings over the years. None of them had really been important, not until he had met Nicole and then Ellie, the most important, at least.

Isaac gave a short sigh of exasperation. It seemed like that day his brain wanted to bring up the past and their future problems over and over again. He wasn't quite sure why, however; he didn't want to think about it more than necessary, but his mind wasn't having any of it.

He already knew that Ellie was the one for him - his sentimental side just seemed to enjoy reminiscing the memory of how he'd known.

He shook his head to clear the warm memories as the elevator door opened and Stamford practically leaped out, clearly agitated in his desperation to visit Jenna. Ellie chuckled and followed him out, and Isaac in turn exited the elevator as they entered the testing area.

Isaac glanced around as they came to a stop before the curtained cubicles. The place was certainly busier than it had been two days ago, the large area alive with the sounds of whirring machinery and the murmurs of test subjects and their respective technicians. Various people entered and left the mass of divided sections, probably starting or finishing a session.

"Damn," Stamford hissed. "How am I going to find Jenna in this mess?"

Ellie said quietly, "I don't know, Stamford, but you need to calm down. Being angry will only lead you into doing something stupid."

Stamford glared at Ellie, and Isaac raised an eyebrow. However, his significant other didn't seem perturbed, merely gazing back at Stamford with an even look in her green and blue eyes.

Eventually, Stamford finally calmed down, releasing a deep breath and loosening his fists. "Sorry," he muttered, clearly trying for an apologetic look and achieving a scowl instead.

Isaac couldn't help but grin. "We know you're worried," he said, "but Jenna's going to be fine. She's tough - you said so yourself."

It was strange to be in a laughing sort of mood when Jenna was probably not enjoying herself as much as they were, but it was hard for Isaac to look at Stamford and not laugh at the agitated man's nearly comical actions.

Stamford was spared from further aggravation when they spotted Dr. Morris heading out of a room, and none other than Jenna was beside him.

His former coworker's face brightened visibly when he saw her, and Isaac stepped back to give the two some room as Stamford and Jenna hugged. Ellie smiled, and she took Isaac's hand as they observed the emotional scene before them.

It was cut too short when Dr. Morris cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, and the pair of them broke apart, Stamford's eyes still smoldering and his arm wrapped around Jenna's waist. Jenna didn't say anything but looked at the ground, her lips pressed together tightly.

Dr. Morris stepped right past the two of them and stood close to Isaac, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I couldn't get her out of testing," he admitted, and Isaac felt the faint bit of near-happiness inside him drain away, leaving him completely serious again. He simply nodded, and Dr. Morris explained, "I tried to tell Amanda that Jenna would probably need some time to recuperate, but she just wouldn't listen. I haven't seen her this worked up in all the time I've known her - it's almost like she's a different person."

Isaac frowned, and Ellie said, "Huh. I was thinking the same thing. Normally she's pretty nice."

"I think it's the fact that we're getting closer and closer to the solution, but we're also running out of time," Dr. Morris confided. "That trip to the New Horizons colony seemed to have made her realize that."

"I guess," Isaac conceded. "But that's still not really a valid reason for her to become a psychotic bitch."

Dr. Morris simply nodded. Quietly, he asked, "Will you talk with me for a moment?"

Unsure of what to expect, Isaac glanced at Ellie, who shrugged. Dr. Morris noticed this and said, "Ellie, you can listen too. But I just need you, both of you, to think about this."

Isaac gave him the go-ahead, and Dr. Morris turned away from Stamford and Jenna as he said, "I pulled up some of Jenna's files from when she was still a Marker test subject. It seems that the administrator didn't get a lot of output from her sessions - in fact, he made a note that he was pretty disappointed with what he was getting."

Bemused, Isaac asked, "So how does this relate to us?"

Dr. Morris huffed but continued, "Well, at first we were getting the same results from her. But upon putting in the codes we received into the algorithm for building the new Markers, we found that hers are giving us more results than those of anybody else here. If we wanted to, we could make a reverse Marker right now just based off of what Jenna gave us in the last session."

Surprise gripped Isaac as he thought about it some more. 'Crazy what they've got going on here. It's good that she's giving them a lot to work with; maybe she won't feel inferior anymore.'

That thought heartened him. Despite having known her for only a very short time, he wanted her to be as happy as possible given their desperate circumstances.

"It's almost like she was made to create the reverse Markers," Dr. Morris added.

Isaac felt Ellie's hand shift in his, and he instinctively tightened his fingers around hers. Her anxious mood was tangible to him and he could sense that she was worried about how he would fare with the program the following day. If anything, he wanted to help these people as much as possible - it was probably their last resort. Ellie knew that just as well as he did, and her concern was fairly obvious.

Dr. Morris cleared his throat. "Miss Langford, there's no need to worry. Isaac will be fine. I'm sure he'll give us much help as well."

"Mrs. Clarke," Ellie corrected, sending a pleasant shiver through Isaac just from hearing her say that. "And I'm not worried about that. I'd just like to know, do you have an idea of how to stop the Prime Moon? Or any of them, for that matter?"

The researcher's brow furrowed as he thought about it. "We're beginning to form a plan, but I'd rather give you the details when we've got it fully worked out."

Ellie nodded, seemingly satisfied with what he'd said. "All right."

Dr. Morris checked his watch. "I'm sorry, I've got to go. Pleasure seeing you again."

They bid farewell to him as he walked away quickly, and they were rejoined by Jenna and Stamford.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Ellie said, taking in the younger woman's visibly happier state.

Jenna smiled. "What can I say? I mean, I wasn't too pleased about it, but at least Dr. Morris was kind about it."

"That's good," Isaac said.

"Don't you have to test tomorrow?" Stamford asked, and Isaac nodded. "You should probably just relax beforehand."

Isaac opened his mouth to object, that he'd rested enough already, but Ellie nudged him, clearly telling him not to say anything. Surprised, he looked at her as she said, "I suppose." She winked surreptitiously at Isaac.

She led him away from Jenna and Stamford as they began a different conversation. Once they reached the elevator, Isaac asked, "Why didn't you just agree? I mean, I really haven't done anything at all for the past day."

"Isaac," Ellie sighed. "I know that you feel like you have to help all the time. I feel like I'm being selfish myself, but is it wrong of me to want to spend all the time with you that I can?" She sounded a little hurt at the end, and Isaac could have kicked himself for not thinking about that.

He could feel his eyes softening and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "No, it's not wrong at all." Burying his face in her soft locks, he said, "I'm sorry for saying that. I just don't want to feel like I haven't done anything to help at all."

"But you will," Ellie answered softly. "You've done a lot to help."

He chuckled at that. "Damn straight I have."

Of course he should have known. They didn't have long, not long at all, but he'd definitely be content with spending more time with Ellie before the storm hit.

Because when it hit, it would hit hard.

**In this chapter, there was a bit of foreshadowing for an event that will happen far down the road but may utterly change the story line. If you can find it, don't say anything!**

**There was a lot of fluff in this chapter, which was a filler of sorts anyhow. I hope you didn't mind; I needed fluff for myself anyways. **

**Review, please, please, please! In the name of true love and Isaac and Ellie and Dead Space 4 and all else that's holy, leave a review!**


	17. A New Weapon

**Holy mother of freaking God! Over 100 reviews and 10,000 hits, guys? I just - gah, I never even expected that many, considering that the Dead Space archive has less than 350 stories!**

**Thank you SO much to all who reviewed, favorited, and put this story on their alerts. It means more to me than you know and I'm so grateful for the support! **

**I hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far. And, for some reason, if you're not quite out of school yet, hang on! You're almost done!**

ISAAC POV

He clenched his jaw as he gazed straight up into the small piece of machinery. Any second now, it would fire the laser into his eye, and he wasn't sure whether or not it would hurt.

A surprised grunt left his mouth when the unexpected occurred and the laser sparked into existence, straight into his eye. He fought the urge to blink and look away - not like he would have been able to, given the fact that the familiar head and eyelid restraints were in place - for the necessary amount of time that the laser would be shooting into his eyeball.

It took about six or seven seconds for the NoonTech machine to perform the task. Isaac fidgeted a little when the Necromorphic symbols flared around him, their blinding white shapes floating in a haze of yellowish-orange light.

Then the laser switched off, and the symbols disappeared as the laser apparatus retracted into the machine and the restraints were removed. Isaac blinked a little, a fiery sensation in his right eyeball irritating him a little, and sat up when the outer shell of the machine slid back.

He looked at Ellie when he got off the table, and she raised an eyebrow when he came over to check the readouts that she had been monitoring. "Seems decent for your first time testing," Ellie commented, pulling up one of the lists of codes that appeared on the monitor. "Although I really have no idea what a good result looks like."

Ellie had asked - well, more like demanded, to be present when Isaac was testing. It was obvious that she didn't trust Dr. Morris or any of his orderlies, and eventually she had just been assigned to monitor his sessions and send the readouts to the computers.

Isaac put a hand on her shoulder as she typed in a command and the results were sent to the control room. Then she turned back to him, satisfaction evident on her face. "Well, we're done with the first session... What now?"

"Hmm," Isaac said thoughtfully. "You know, I should probably go and visit Amanda. Not that I want to, for her companionship," he added quickly upon catching sight of Ellie's indignant expression. "I just think that I should find out everything I can about this whole operation, and see what else I can do to help."

He waited while Ellie was silent, obviously reluctant to go and make any sort of contact with the "crazy bitch," as she often called Amanda. Her eyes were defiant, but she sighed and gave in, saying, "Okay, fine. Might as well."

Isaac smirked at her clear unwillingness, brushing aside the cubicle curtains and exiting the testing area. A glance at the window to the control room informed him that Dr. Morris was there and clearly busy, so he decided not to ask about Jenna's stunning progress that he'd mentioned before and continued on into the elevator.

Ellie didn't say anything the entire time, and Isaac sighed when he realized she was probably still upset with his decision to see Amanda. He said, "If you're still mad about that, I'm not looking for trouble - I told you that already, right?"

Ellie said pensively, looking into his eyes, "No, I understand, Isaac. It's just... I've been feeling weird lately, and I've got no idea why."

Isaac furrowed his brow, thinking about anything that could have happened in the past week and a half to make her feel odd. "Like what?" he asked, hoping to find out more.

"I don't know... Just different, I suppose."

"Weird," Isaac mused. He chalked it up to returning to a dangerous environment and trouble with the Necromorphs - hell, even he felt kind of sick after encountering the monsters again. Maybe it was something that nobody really ever got used to. "Hopefully it's nothing."

They entered the Central, where Amanda spent most of her time conducting the Dissenters' business. It was a sight to see more people filling up the large amount of tables and chairs, probably getting ready for a meeting.

He tried not to feel self-conscious as he and Ellie crossed the enormous room, heading for the founder of the entire operation.

She was preparing what appeared to be a couple of documents for her upcoming speech, the microphone on the podium set up and ready to go. When he and Ellie approached, she looked up, her sharp gaze softening when she saw who it was.

"Ah, I was just about to ask you to meet me here," she greeted them, setting her papers down on the podium's surface. "I have something of importance to say to you two especially."

Ellie didn't say anything, and Isaac didn't have to look at her to see her stony expression. It made him feel like laughing, the way she openly despised her old friend and wasn't afraid to get in trouble for that.

Amanda didn't seem to notice Ellie's silence, instead turning to Isaac. "I presume you're here to learn more about the operation?"

"Yeah," he answered.

Amanda tapped her chin, gazing at him thoughtfully. "Hmm... Where to start? You already know the details of our mission. Is it how we'll be saving mankind that's interesting you primarily?"

Isaac nodded. He remembered that Dr. Morris had mentioned the day before that they were forming a plan, but even seeing him today he hadn't given them any more details. "I'd like to know more about this just in case we go on any more trips to different colonies."

"The only trips we would be making would be to test out the reverse Markers," Amanda replied absently, staring off into space. Evidently she was still thinking about how to explain it to them. "And you don't necessarily have to go, either of you," she added.

Ellie's hand relaxed in his; clearly she was happier at the prospect of the two of them being as safe as they could get on the Aurora. She knew as well as he did that it was better to be quarantined on the space station than risking their lives in some godforsaken colony, when they still had the Prime Moon to destroy.

The Head of the Dissenters cleared her throat, catching their attention once again. "Well, we already have enough codes to start making some reverse Markers in the mineral baths. The codes we received from Jenna alone after putting them in the algorithm were enough to construct one - we're getting unbelievable progress from her. It's amazing, the way she seems to have almost a natural connection to them."

"In a good or bad way?" Ellie asked sharply, the first thing she'd said to Amanda.

"I'm thinking in a good way, since she's producing good results using the algorithm," Amanda answered. "I even retrieved some of her old files from the Marker Ops program on Scorpio VI. According to the head scientist, he was displeased with what he was getting from her. He said it was like she wasn't cooperating; they were never able to get good codes from her. But now it's as if she was made to oppose the Markers..."

None of them said anything as they thought of the implications that this development presented. Maybe Jenna was a born Marker killer; Isaac had been forced to be one, and if he was this effective at bringing down Markers then Jenna would probably be even better.

For the first time, Isaac felt even optimistic about what lay ahead of them.

Amanda continued, "Anyways, we're developing a way to bring down the Prime Moon. Dr. Morris was thinking of using the codes to create a new weapon, something that could be very effective in destroying the Necromorph Moons for good."

"Sounds like a good plan," Isaac said. "Has he got any firm ideas for what the weapon would do besides the regular shooting and crap?"

Amanda tipped her head to the side, the look in her eyes calculating. "Isaac, you know how we kill Necromorphs. To permanently put down one of those bastards we have to sever all of their limbs, right? Well, if we could somehow take off all of those limbs in one go-"

"Like I was able to on the TK charging plate?" Isaac prodded.

Amanda nodded. "Exactly. To separate all of their limbs easily, we could work on creating a concentrated ball of TK that could grab their limbs and pull them apart, thus destroying them."

After a short period of ingesting the information, Isaac nodded. "I see."

"But how does that kill a Moon?" Ellie asked.

"Think of it on a large scale," Amanda suggested, her voice still slightly icy. "It probably wouldn't be normal gun-sized, most likely a huge piece of machinery, and it would also require a huge amount of energy, meaning that every shot has to count. But it would fire enormous, high-powered concentrations of TK that could tear the thing apart."

To Isaac, the weapon sounded effective and deadly. He wished that the Benches that had been in the Roanoke and on Tau Volantis had allowed him to graft on a TK module. He could see it already: use the TK module as the primary fire, and an enhanced and fully upgraded module that would yield greater results.

"So," he said, "has he got anybody working on the design yet?"

"Not yet," Amanda conceded. "We just came up with the idea."

"I can help with the design," he offered. "We should speed up this process and get as much done as possible. There's not a lot of time left."

"That's true," Amanda said, nodding appreciatively. "And you, Ellie, can aid us in our pilot training program. We're going to need to teach people how to fly the cargo planes to colonies and end the outbreaks - if you could help us with that, being that you likely have the most experience, we'll be able to progress with our operation as well."

Ellie nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "At least I can do something to help. It's better than sitting around waiting for shit to happen."

Amanda actually smiled, which surprised Isaac because she hadn't seemed very friendly on their journey to the Aurora. Idly, he wondered if she actually had been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder or anything of the sort. Maybe she was just under a lot of stress from running the entire operation - then again, who wouldn't be?

"Isaac, you'd better see Tara in her office. She's assembling the team of engineers to begin work on the weapon soon."

Isaac nodded, and she continued, "And Ellie, you should head to the Flight Deck. I'll send the aspiring pilots over along with one of my other officers to help you get it going."

Ellie nodded, and Amanda went back to prepping her speech as the two of them quickly began crossing the Central to the elevators.

Isaac checked his RIG's wrist monitor, and discovered that he and Ellie would have to split up early, given that Tara's office was three floors below the Flight Deck. He was still wary of separating with his love when he had yet to familiarize himself with the other inhabitants of the space station.

Just before the door opened and Ellie would have to leave, Isaac pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her on her full lips. "Be careful," he told her with a chuckle, feeling her arms draped around his neck. "I love you."

"Love you too," Ellie responded, giving him another light peck, her blue eyes filled with affection. Then the door closed, and Isaac was on his way to the engineers' meeting.

ELLIE POV

She couldn't help the smile on her face and the sudden lightness of her step as she entered the Flight Deck. Love never failed to amaze her - even during what was now the most important mission of her life, she could still get caught up and swept away in one of the greatest things in the world.

She shook away the feeling, allowing it to rest on her shoulder and induce a lightheartedness, but enough so that she could focus. A quick glance around the Deck revealed that several younger girls and a few young boys were seated in chairs around a table, their heads close together as though they were having an animated conversation. She moved forward, quietly, to try and catch some of their teenage gossip. It would be interesting to see just how involved even the younger members of the Dissenters were.

"- says that if I do well in this pilot program, she'll let me maybe even fly out to some of the colonies," one of the boys said. "So I'm gonna try and ace all of the lessons they throw at me."

From her place three tables away, sitting unobtrusively in a chair, Ellie recognized one of the girls as Lucy, her brown eyes and dark hair familiar. She looked away just to make sure that she herself wasn't recognized.

Lucy scoffed and said, "You need your mother's permission? I would just go ahead and do it. Besides, this is important, and I doubt they'll actually be giving us lessons. Probably something more hands-on."

The group laughed, and Ellie moved away from their idle adolescent gossip. It was clear she'd have to rein in a group of very eager teens whilst dealing with the mission at hand. Between helping Isaac with testing, aiding Amanda with the operation, and teaching a group of pilots-to-be, she'd have her work cut out for her.

The door to the Flight Deck opened again, this time actually catching the attention of Lucy's friends. They fell silent and Ellie watched as more people walked in, men and women older than her, probably just finished with the meeting that Amanda had held.

One of the older men stepped over to where she was sitting and extended a hand. "I'm Fernando Aguilar," he told her, shaking her hand. "Amanda sent me over to you to help with the pilot program."

"Oh," Ellie said, giving him a handshake. "Well, that's great. I'm gonna need all the help I can get - I've never taught a group of people anything."

Fernando laughed. "Eh, no worries. We'll do fine. We just have to make sure everything runs according to plan."

With that, he turned to the group that was forming and called out, "Everybody quiet down! This here is Ellie Langford. She's here to assist us with the pilot program."

Ellie felt uncomfortable when all eyes were on her but pushed her anxiety away, lifting her hand up for a wave.

Fernando continued, "All you guys take a seat. Time is of the essence here, so let's get started..."

ISAAC POV

Most of the engineers in his group were male, tough men that didn't speak much and had stony faces for neutral expressions. The few women that were there eyed him with an interested expression and whispered to each other things he couldn't catch and didn't care to.

Isaac didn't mind the lack of conversation on his part. He was here to work, not gossip, and he tapped his fingers idly as he waited for Tara to come back from the meeting.

Amanda's second-in-command didn't keep them waiting long. He had only been waiting for ten minutes before the door opened and Tara strode through, looking somewhat harried. Quickly, she set down the files she'd carried from the meeting room, and said, "I'm not going to beat around the bush. Amanda estimates that we have about two and a half weeks left to make sure the fate of the human race is stable, and for that to happen we need to complete this weapon as soon as possible."

The room was silent. The tone of her voice and the serious expression on her face had been enough to capture the everyone's attention.

Isaac nodded. "So, what's our plan?"

Tara said, "Isaac, I think I'll put you in charge of this. Amanda also told me that you know the basic function and probably the structure of the weapon, so I'll leave you to work on the basic blueprints. Divide people into groups, work on things by yourself, whatever - I don't care as long as you finish the weapon and make sure it's effective."

He nodded again, facing the group of engineers. He felt completely at ease commanding this group of intellectuals; something told him that he would be able to work with them well and not much gossiping or unnecessary actions would get in the way. "You can count on me."

Tara replied, "Good." She checked her watch. "I've got a meeting with Dr. Morris. Try and make some progress, and let me know how much work you've done via a RIGlink or a phone message."

"Got it."

She left the room, and Isaac addressed the group of engineers who were now under his command. "All right, everybody. You heard Tara. Let's get to work."

**You know, looking back on it in the past month I haven't updated, I realized that the first chapters of this story weren't that bad. I mean, of course there were things to be polished over, but I was aiming more for an emotional outpouring than anything else. So I guess I'm actually pretty pleased with them, ha ha. God, I need to make up my mind. **

**I received a review that I'm adding too many new characters, and I completely understand how it feels that way. However, I'm just going to say that I'm only introducing the ones who will actually make an appearance more than once. I hope that quells the irritation. Sorry! **

**Please do leave a review. **


	18. I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON

**Oh God... Can I have a chance to explain? **

**I know most of you have been put off by my psycho, bipolar and utterly dramatic antics. I'm a terrible person. I should've realized what I had, but in my frustration with writers' block and all the dead-ness of the Dead Space fandom, I lost sight of it. I am so sorry to any readers out there that care to read this. **

**The thing is, I felt like giving up on Isaac and Ellie. Not a lot of stories are really written about them anymore, although the ones that have recently popped up are all pretty good. I felt like, if nobody else cares to read this, why should I write it?**

**It was a stupid mistake. **

**I've come to realize that I can't give up on my OTP and Dead Space just as much as I can't stop running, or playing music, or being who I am. And Isaac and Ellie are a part of that, a huge part. **

**I think I just need to take a bit of a break - yes, longer than I already have, my apologies! - and reevaluate what I'm doing with this story, where the plot is going, et cetera. And I'm going to stop writing so much freaking fluff because I kind of made myself a tiny bit sick... Don't worry, I promise to write some, but not so much that the entire story is obscured by sickly sweet goodness. The plot got clogged up. **

**I don't know why I deleted the story. I should've kept it up, I should have left it on hiatus if I even cared at all. Thank God for the recovery feature. **

**Unfortunately, recovering this story doesn't mean that it's recovered all the favorites and follows I received from you wonderful and kind readers. If you still want to read, feel free to hit those two buttons. No pressure if you don't - I understand completely that my selfish actions must have angered you and irritated you to no end. **

**I'm truly sorry for being so blind. I hope you all forgive me. **

**Keep Calm and Stomp On. That's gonna be my new motto for this story, Dead Space themed. **

**Thanks for reading this, if you did. **

**I know, I know. You have my permission to slap me through the computer. **

**I promise this will never happen again. **

**Sometimes I just do really fucking stupid shit. **

**So, uh, see you at some point. I swear I won't give up. I'm coming back. **


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